Dear friends,

Isn’t it great that we never stop learning or growing? God’s grace is so wonderful!   It provides the security I need to grow and become a different person. 

 I consider myself a better lover of people than I was early in my life. I think I’m a better parent.  My housekeeping and cooking skills are better.  Studying is easier and I comprehend better.  My writing skills have improved.  And the list goes on… 

             How have you changed?  Do you find that the more time you spend learning a skill, the better you get at it? 

             Success comes with desire, a great teacher, and repeated efforts.  However, we never stop learning. This summer for the first time, I learned how to properly plant flowers.  For some of you, that is incomprehensible!  How could a woman my age just be learning how to grow flowers?

             I grew up in a family of five children.  Most of my life, both of my parents worked.  When they weren’t working, my father, a college professor, was studying and preparing for classes.  My mother’s evenings and weekends were spent cooking, baking, cleaning and washing clothes. They were faithful church attendees and spent extra time calling on those who were sick. Flowers didn’t make the “to do” list.

             Because I love flowers, I have attempted in the past to grow them in my yard.  Only the hardiest survived—and not well.  (I learned later that watering really helps!)

             In desperation, I finally called a friend of mine because I had company coming over.  My friend, Dan, is a “master gardener.”  He loves plants and they flourish under his care.  When I first saw his garden, I could not believe it.  Plants everywhere! Real live ones—growing and thriving!

             Dan agreed to come to my home, suggest what flowers would be appropriate and show me how to plant them.  He was very patient with me, and together we filled my flowerbox and yard space with lovely flowers and plants.  That was over a month ago, and they are still living!  Amazing!

             When we first learn about SSA in our families, we are overwhelmed with what we think we think we have done wrong.  We try in our own way to “fix” it, and are often not successful.  My experience reminds me that we need to become a student of the “master gardener,” who understands the human heart and can teach us what to do and how to do it.  The “master gardener” knows the condition of the soil, the type of plant, whether they like sun or not, how much fertilizer to use and how often we need to water.

 As we listen to His voice and follow His leading, our relationship with our SSA loved one improves—and sometimes even thrives.  And God does an amazing work in us, as well as our homosexual loved ones.

 How is your garden doing?

              Carol