The blessing of sisters

In my Dad's early working days he worked as a gardener. One of the places he worked was Burton Agnes Hall, which is perhaps not surprising as he was born and brought up in the village. By the time I was born he had left behind the time of being employed as a gardener, but he never lost his love of gardening. In the early years of my marriage, whenever we moved house Dad would come and set to work on our garden. It was great to see how soon he could knock it into shape. The challenge for me then was to keep it at that standard!

Though I quite enjoy gardening, I am nothing like as skilled at it as my dad was. We have been at out current house for just over 9 years now, and I've not really come close to getting on top of the garden. Every now and then I have a bit of a spurt, and parts of it are ok, but I know that Dad would have much to do if he were still alive and able to offer his help!

One of the big problems I face is shortage of time to actually spend in the garden. I was delighted, then, when two of my sisters very kindly offered to come and spend a couple of days with us and do some work in our back garden. Christine and Mary worked really hard, and I'm only sorry that I didn't manage to take a "before" photo to remind me of what the garden was like before their efforts. The back garden has been transformed. We took several car loads of garden waste to the tip, and there's still more waiting to be taken.

Apart from anything else, it's reminded me of how we human beings need each other. It was John Donne who famously wrote, 'No man is an island, entire of itself'. Part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus is to be ready to support, encourage and help others by allowing God's love to flow through us. Jesus calls us to follow his example of servanthood. We also need to be gracious enough to accept the offer of help from others when we are struggling. One of the big problems we face as a society is the fact that there seem to be so many people who feel alone, with no one to help or care. Right now I say a big thank you to God for my two sisters who gave so much to us, and I just hope that it's given me the incentive to carry on the good work!