Connecting to Mother Earth...

I always marvel at the way my children get right into the dirt, pick up anything that moves and study it. It brings a big smile to their face as they approach me and say, "Mommy look at this beautiful worm, beetle, catepillar or ant". Somehow over the years, I dont know exactly when.. I transitioned and now see those very things as creepy crawly things. This summer during our transition without my husband...we spent many hours working in the garden, pulling weeds, covered to our elbows in soil. We sprinkled several different kinds of seeds.Starting with wild flowers, local flowers and their fathers favourite sweet peas. It was very therapeautic for us all to connect to the earth, forget our sorrows, and to use our garden as a metaphor for life.

There were lessons that we learnt in that garden, such as how to prepare the soil, planting seeds for the future. We also learnt how to remove the unwanted weeds that could pose a problem, to what we were hoping to witness blossom. There were times of expansion and contraction just like in our daily lives. There were times that we thought nothing would grow, then we were blessed with an abundant amount of rain. We were worried that all of the seeds we spent time planting, had been washed away.

It was a year that was abundant with dandelions. More dandelions than I had ever seen before and bigger than ever. Then when the big day came and the flowers began to grow and blossom, we were surprised with a beautiful show of flowers. It was more beautiful than we could have ever planned. As one set of flowers would end its growth..a new one would replace it..bringing color back into our lives. In that very garden we spent hours playing with the abundance of creatures we found. Many afternoons delighted by the vision of lady bugs, catepillars, worms, ants, and even a stink bug.

One of my favourite mornings was when Noelle found a large yellow Monarch butterfly. Out of kindness she rescued it out of a puddle that was created by a short rainstorm. Noelle and her father went to play at the park and she returned with this beautiful gift. Butterflies in many cultures represent the beginning to new things.

Join me for the next story of our friend Lily. Who knew that this spiritual visitor could touched our lives so deeply. I hope this story will inspire you to watch for the many little things that happen to each of you daily, that are really just symbols of love, grace and healing.