Second Hand Joy
I am a lover of old, repurposed, recycled and worn. Drawn to objects which have age and patina. The chips and breaks are badges of honor. Tarnish tells me love was there. Run love through the sieve of time. Until it stands the test of time and time again. Watch the beauty multiply. Compounding adds to the interest. Cracks are doorways for the rays to pass through. Of hope and light. Sealed by perfection, honed to perfection, perfect cannot bear the weight of beauty in the broken.
Faded sepia outlasts the lives of the living. Remaining to tell of love and life. Proud of her browns and white and nearly monochromatic memory.
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She met me at the fence line. Wearing a story in her silhouette, curved like an ampersand, bent logogram, a symbol of her life. Joy comes like the morning fog. Lays down and covers the pregnant day. She had excavated joy from my joy. Joy in spades. Joy in triplicates. For mine was there. Then hers arrived. And mine was doubled by her proclamation. At the fence. The currency of love. Exchanged.
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My joy is not my own. The mystery of the winter seeds we planted is unfolding. And I bear witness to the miracle of love. Lonely and a bit alone, she watches as our garden grows. And she can write the story of my chickens and how they spend their day. Acting out their antics on the stage for her amusement and viewing from her front row seat.
I was blind. But now I see.
Amazing grace. How does your garden grow.
elizabeth w. marshall 
I was thinking about other ‘seeds’ yesterday as I sat on the deck looking down at my vegetable garden. Scripture says “the life is in the seed” to the farmer that plants and is amazed at its growth. In particular, the seeds of my children’s lives–how God put all the who-they-are in them and, in spite of my mess-ups, they’ve become Who They Are (and it is awesome.) I am amazed at God’s faithfulness.
Love your words here.
Love this, Elizabeth…what hope and joy when we see what God does with our winter seeds 🙂