Transplanting Tea (and Me)

When Andy and I moved recently, I was disappointed to leave a lot of the plants and garden work behind. That’s always been the story though. We do a bit of landscaping, build up the soil, clean out some space to utilize, plant gardens and then move. It’s part of the fact that we’ve rented or been caretakers/stewards of every spot of land that we’ve lived on or farmed together and we didn’t own any of it.

The fact is that we may not ever own any real estate. That’s okay. As much as I would love to have a place where I can see my children grow and perhaps even my own precious grandchildren, that may not ever be part of our story. Thankfully, this world isn’t our home and I can cling to that no matter what.

Although I have very strong desires to see the trees we plant grow and mature and to have my own garden that has evolved over the years and grown as we have, the root of those desires is to have stability and a sense of place and belonging. Those desires aren’t wrong or bad. But, if I fail to remember that the only constant in our lives is Christ and his unfailing love, then my desires are misplaced. The bottom line for me is that even if the whole earth fades (and it will) that God’s sovereignty and righteousness and Word will never change or fade. God is the only true, unchanging, always and forever in my life.

So, even though we’ve moved dirt and planted and replanted and rooted and uprooted and rerooted and relocated numerous times over the last few years and since the beginning of our marriage (and my entire upbringing), we are going to continue to plant and plan and grow.

One thing that we did bring with us on our last move was a few sprigs of peppermint and Moroccan mint.  Those have since grown and I’ve been able to harvest multiple little bunches and dry them for tea. I’ve even bagged a few. Herbal tea is something we enjoy and I’m looking forward to my first cup from this most recent season of transplanting and growing.

XO,

Melissa