Praying in My Mary Garden

It's been a long summer and summer isn't even over. My family has managed to declutter dozens of bags of excess from our home and weed bag after bag of weeds from our yard. With the help of my sons and a young adult family friend, (pictured here with our cat) I managed to carve out a Mary Garden from an overgrown patch of yard.


Today I sat in the garden for the first time, with a cup of coffee, my Mother's Bracelet rosary from my  friend Sarah, who died a year ago last week, and my iPhone because despite all these decades of being Catholic, I really do not know how to pray the Rosary.

The sun rose as I prayed and the finches and cardinals, at first shy because of my presence, forgot about me and began to visit the two feeders. My hour of contemplation prepared me for a phone call from my sister, updating me about my dad's frailty and gave me the strength and inner peace to face what is in front of us.

I posted a video of the garden this morning on my instagram account and one of my nieces commented that it looks picturesque. I don't see Beauty enough: I find flaws everywhere. This  morning and that note is a reminder that the journey is not about achieving Perfection but about understanding how Christ is with us, showering us with Grace.