Grow Where You’re Planted
Aug 29th, 2008 by Tana
We walk by this house every day on our morning walks. It’s a rental. With a landlord that just wants to collect rent. The roof is old. The siding is falling off. The blinds in the windows are bent up and don’t match. There are a couple of window air conditioners, which means it probably doesn’t have central air. The typical renters who have lived here generally haven’t even bothered to mow the lawn.
Not so with the young family that lives there now. You can see she’s put out little plants and decorative things on the porch. The lawn is always mowed. There are even chairs on the porch as though they enjoy it in spite of its faults.
I must confess, I am so humbled and awed and inspired every time I walk by this little house. Talk about making the most of what you’ve got. Growing where you’re planted. Making lemonade with your lemons. I so have nothing to complain about….
You can go here and see more of the sights we see on our daily morning walks.
Some time you need to knock on the door and tell them how much you appreciate their efforts. I know that is not always easy to do. But maybe you’ll have the courage to do it one day.
Take your dad’s suggestion.
Right after we were first married, we lived in a run-down old rental house on the outskirts of a very small town. Therewasn’t alot I could do to improve it, but I did put plants on the porch, colorful annuals in the front beds, and we kept the yard mowed and a little garden flag out by the mailbox. It looked old and in need of repair, but it also looked lived in and cheerful. I, however, despaired over the appearance, always wondering what the neighbors (only 3–a very rural area) or passers-by thought. One day, a nice little old lady knocked on the front door. She lived in town and drove past our house three times a week going to dialysis in the next town over. She was just stopping to introduce herself, and to tell us how glad she was to see someone loving the little house again. Apparently a long time ago the home belonged to friends of hers and was very nice. A series of uncaring homeowners and landlords had left it in its current state, but it made her happy to see someone trying to make it a home again rather than just a stopping point.
I still send that lady a Christmas card each year, even though I moved nearly 9 years ago. 🙂