Good Soil

For my 40th birthday I am receiving lots of dirt. Lots and lots...truckloads full of dirt. Not just any dirt, but good, rich topsoil. The kind that flowers can actually live in.


When we built our home, the driveway was constructed first with a layer of crusher run gravel. These extra rocks were pushed aside into a layer of orange construction sand. These two layers sit on top of who knows how many years of compacted white kaolin clay. Very few things can live in these conditions.


And this is the exact spot where I had envisioned a beautiful English county style garden. One wild and wooly with flowering plants and vines, speaking of HOME.


I have tried transplanting many things to this location. A few can make it. Many struggle. Many sizzle in the brutal South Carolina summer heat. Other's drown with their roots rotting in the miry clay.

It occurred to me that there is nothing wrong with these plants. It is the condition of the soil. I've tried to ameliorate the situation by mixing in various things the garden center recommends, but to no avail.


I've hand-picked rock after rock as I've worked in the little garden of my dreams and tried not to compare it's pitiful yield with the lush side-yard garden of my neighbor's. Well, tried. The truth be told, I actually walk by with longing every time we pass by on a family walk or drive into the neighborhood. I'm working on counting my blessings, but secretly wonder how her soil just up the street seems fine, and ours is swampland.


So, working with what we've got, we are bringing in truckloads of good soil and transplanting these plants to a new home. A place where they might have a chance to survive...and even flourish.

God spoke to me as we have decided this week to host two orphan children in our home this summer, that they are the like the flowers of my dreams. There is nothing wrong with these children. They just need a good place to grow. They will need love and affection, and pruning and watering....genuine CARE. And they will flourish under His care.