Scribed In Light

There is something sacred about tending a garden. A parent knows this well – not just in the soil beneath their fingers, but in the hearts they nurture, the souls they watch over. A garden, much like a child, is not simply planted and left to grow. It must be tended, protected, pruned, and endured through seasons both bright and brutal.

A parent watches as their seedlings push through the earth trembling with new life. They shield them from harm, water them in love, and rejoice at the first signs of bloom. Yet, they know that sunlight alone is not enough.

The UNSEEN NECESSITIES OF GROWTH

For a seedling to thrive, it must experience more than warmth. It must endure wind. It must be strengthened by rain. It must be taught resilience through the storms.

A parent sees this – feel it in the depths of their soul – as they raise their children, as they guide those placed in their care. It would be easy to wish them a life of only sunlight, to pray away the storms, the winds, the tearing away of what no longer serves them.

But without the rain, how would they grow?

Without the wind, how would they stand strong?

Without the pruning, how would they bloom to their fullest?

TILLING THE SOIL, WEEDING THE SOUL

There comes a time when a parent, like a gardener, must pull weeds – the distractions, the self-doubt, the fears that creep in and threaten to choke out the life within them.

There comes a time when the soil must be tilled and broken open – a painful process, but necessary for one. For only in that breaking can the roots stretch deeper, anchoring themselves in a strength greater than they ever knew they possessed.

FACING THE STORMS WITHOUT FEAR

Too often, we fear the darkening clouds – the seasons of hardship, uncertainty, loss. We brace ourselves against the wind, resent the rains, and wonder why we must endure such trials.

But what if we saw them differently? What if we recognized the divine purpose within them? What if we understood that every storm, every gust of wind, every drop of rain was preparing us- not just to survive, but to flourish?

This is what a parent longs for their children to know.

This is what they whisper when their children feel overwhelmed.

This is what they pray over them when life seems unfair.

“Do not fear the storm, my child. It is watering your roots. It is strengthening your limbs. It is shaping you into something beyond what you can see today.”

BECOMING THE BLOSSOMS THAT SUSTAIN OTHERS

As the years pass, a parent watches in awe. The seedlings have grown. The once-fragile stems now stand tall, bending with the winds but never breaking. The blooms unfold, vibrant and full of life.

And what once needed tending, nurturing, and shelter…

Now becomes the shelter.

Now becomes the nourishment.

Now becomes the shade for another.

This is the beauty of a parent’s garden – a place where love, hardship, and divine purpose come together to shape souls into something breathtaking. Something strong. Something rooted in truth, grace, and wisdom.

A CLOSING REFLECTION

To those reading this today:

• Do you fear the storms in your life, or do you see them as opportunities for deeper growth?
• Do you resent the winds that bend you, or do you trust they are shaping your strength?
• Can you look back and see how the sunlight and the storms have worked together to bring you here – rooted, rising, ready?

You are not just a seed. You are not just a sprout. You are becoming the very thing that will sustain others.

So let the rains come.

Let the winds shape you.

And bloom.

“A parent is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.”- Dorothy Canfield Fisher

“Just as a garden grows, so too do our hearts as we nurture the souls entrusted to us.”

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23

May your garden grow, thrive, and blossom in the spirit of grace,

Tina