When Family Coaching moved into our office there was a prairie dog town behind the building. If you’re not from west Texas you probably don’t know what a prairie dog town looks like. Prairie dogs eat everything in the yard, all the vegetation and every tree, everything in sight. They level the land and make it flat and only leave small mounds of dirt, holes that they live in. Let me assure you that a prairie dog town is ugly. Our offices, however, are beautiful. But when we first moved in, that plot of land behind the office was nothing but prairie dogs. In the four years since Family Coaching moved into our building the families have changed that prairie dog town into an exquisite garden. They’ve planted hundreds of trees in the lot. They’ve built a waterfall and a river of flowers that runs through the tress. We even have some old donated furniture in the garden so you can sit down and enjoy the splendor.
When we first started the garden, some of the children were helping us plant trees. One of the kids who helped plant those trees was four at the time. When he put his tree into the ground it was shorter than he was. Now the tree is twice as tall as he is. He thinks this is amazing! He told me once that he was worried because the tree was growing faster than he was. I had to reassure him that it was ok, that he was not going to out-grow his tree. But this is true of the whole garden. Everything we plant grows like a weed.
Not only is the garden nice to look at and a great therapeutic tool for the families, it also helps people to heal. Beauty aids healing. The pretty flowers, the soft sound of the water, the way you walk through the leaves when they fall off the trees, all help people to heal. Around the garden is a fence one family built while another family planted roses that climb the fence. All in all, it’s just a beautiful place to walk in, and sit in, to become closer to God.
But of all the beauties the garden offers, I enjoy the birds the most. We have lots and lots of robins, quite a few doves and countless other species that use the garden to rest and fill the silence with their songs. We also have a family of rabbits that have moved in. They live under a bridge that crosses the river of flowers. When kids go out to the garden I’ll lift up the bridge and we watch the rabbits go scampering off in every direction. The garden is a place of real peace and calm. A gift from the families to the families.
If you are ever in town, I invite you to come and enjoy the garden as well!
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