“It is difficult to design a [garden] that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.”
William H. Whyte
Okay. So Rebekah and I were out of town for ten days. Meanwhile here in Tarboro the community enjoyed some much needed and appreciated good rain. The net result was limited opportunity for our landscape architect to get much done.
Regardless, Gene was able to keep things moving forward, and so I am happy to report some positive progress at the front of our property.
The parameters and the lines – where the retaining walls will be built and how the space will be defined – are beginning to emerge. Also, most of the unwanted material (crumbing walls from the 19th century, deep-seated weeds, old carriage tracks etc.) has been removed.
We are beginning to get a clear sense of how things will look over the next week and we are excited about that.
Everything New & Beautiful…
For me, this is a practical reminder that just about everything new and beautiful first needs to go through a period of undoing and honest assessment and calibrated reinvention (just as our friend Aaron did when he restored the old house itself), before the footings can be laid and the plants ordered and the next stage of landscaping launched.
But here’s the kicker. If we are unwilling to, first, acknowledge that stuff needs to be “dealt with,” then we will never be in a position to live into what is possible. God has all these amazing plans for us – “Plans to give you hope and a future…” But we will miss them, tragically, if we cannot – or will not – admit that we need the help.
But we will miss God’s best for us, tragically, if we cannot – or will not – admit that we need the help.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” – Jeremiah 29:11-13