THE WORLD
It’s been pushing fifteen years since I hand picked the trees, bushes, and flowers for my yard. I made sure each one was placed strategically around the yard; front, sides, and back, to make the most of the shade, but more importantly for the tropical oasis that I’d envisioned in my mind – a getaway from the world…
I’ll admit that the selections were a strategic as well as a self serving endeavor. And while I was trying to create an escape from the world, I stumbled into bringing some of the most beautiful parts of this world into my oasis.
The west and east sides of the house, where the morning and afternoon Arizona sun pierces even the toughest dual pane windows, are now massive yellow bells and orange jubilees.
In the backyard, among the same yellow bells and orange jubilees, behind the queen palms and orange trees, is a mixture of bougainvilleas, red and purple, and hibiscus trees.
Hibiscus flowers are my favorite. And I have every color hibiscus God made in my backyard.
For all I accomplished in hiding neighbors yards and road noises, as well as creating an oasis to find solace from the vicious world, probably the best thing I accomplished was creating a home for all the birds and critters that don’t pay rent.
The trees are filled with nests of all types of birds; doves, cactus wrens, sparrows, blackbirds, but mostly my favorites, hummingbirds.
We have hummingbird nests in front, side, and backyards. There’s been more than a couple of seasons when we were flogged by a tiny hummingbird mom trying to get us away from the nest she’d built in the tree under our back patio.
But just like the movie “Field of Dreams”, “Build it and they will come”. The squirrels are winning the battle to take over underneath the spa and boulder water feature. It’s also a losing battle trying to keep the rats from the orange trees. They aren’t pretty, but the baby lizards perform the nighttime dinner show by eating the bugs gathered to the light coming from the windows under the patio.
The pigeons have been in retreat for over a year now since I went on the offensive to rid them from destroying the front of the house. They’ll come back. They always do. I’ll be ready.
Death and destruction are part of this fallen world… and even in a retreat designed for a break from the world, it falls there too.
In Matthew 10:29 I’m reminded that a small bird doesn’t have a lot of value in this world, but they matter to God and He knows when one dies… which means He cares.
With all the birds that live in my yard, I’ve seen many fall. And it reminds me that it’s a fallen world. Children are dying and being abused… evil is real.
We need rest from the world, but even a beautiful oasis can’t bring peace. That only comes from God.
Sunday, September 15, 2019 @ 6:27 pm
Yes, Floyd, true peace only comes from God. Try as we might, and you know that Danny and I do in caring for our birds, squirrels, etc., there is only so much we can do. We can think we are creating a haven, when in fact, we are learning a lesson in God’s love. He is the absolute destination, so every loving touch we give is only a mirror of His promise.
Blessings!
Monday, September 16, 2019 @ 3:32 am
Very true, Floyd. If we don’t have peace with God, no vacation, no backyard oasis, no mind-numbing drug, no human relationship can give us peace. Well said!
Monday, September 16, 2019 @ 4:44 am
I cannot visualize how beautiful your oasis must be with all the flowering trees and the birds and critters. Yes, true peace within can only come from God. But, I do think the place we call home should be our sanctuary – separate and free from the demonic world we live in. A place where one’s soul can center-in on The LORD. I do not have the kinds of trees you do, Floyd, nor, as a renter, do I have the privilege of adding to the property to beautify it. But, I have large windows to my backyard where I have birds feeders and bunnies. My little cottage truly has become my sanctuary and those who visit remark that it is such! How blessed I am. How blessed you are.
Monday, September 16, 2019 @ 2:04 pm
Isn’t it strange that an oasis of our own making can sometimes turn into a desert and a desert can become an oasis? But then there are those times, as you are now experiencing, when a pictured oasis becomes even more than we dreamed. it took awhile for it to happen but it did. Now you get to enjoy the fruit of all your planning and planting. Sort of like Galatians 6. Enjoy the harvest my friend! Even in a fallen world there is found some good fruit.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019 @ 8:06 pm
I can only imagine what the Garden of Eden was like. So beautiful, yet inside there was another world being exposed. We do live in a fallen world, but God makes everything beautiful fall eventually, just so He can lift it up again!
Wednesday, September 18, 2019 @ 6:15 pm
Love your conclusion, Floyd: “We need rest from the world, but even a beautiful oasis can’t bring peace. That only comes from God.” I do love looking out at my trees and flowers and flora around me, but those are just signposts to the true inner peace that is from God.
Monday, September 23, 2019 @ 8:07 pm
Floyd,
Hummingbirds are one of my favorites 🙂 And yes, true peace…only one source…learning that again and again. Thanks for your kind words re my dad.
Saturday, December 14, 2019 @ 9:58 am
Floyd, your oasis sounds so much like the yards my mother always had. She too had every color hibiscus it was possible to grow. Your post made me a little bit homesick, since I live in apartment and have no say so about the growth around me. I love this truth: “We need rest from the world, but even a beautiful oasis can’t bring peace. That only comes from God.” Amen to that!