Losing Hope….

I will be honest. This is hard. We knew the house would need work and the yard was overgrown and needed manicuring. We never thought about the things that would impede us. The biggest problem? As I’ve mentioned before… the mosquitoes! Everyone agrees it has been an especially bad year and other years will be better. I’ve been patient. I’ve tried to be creative…but I started losing hope.

The other day I was looking at some old photos of the kids and found one taken at the old house in a “tomato jungle” in the backyard. I thought about our yard now… 4 acres and yet we hadn’t been outside to play in a few days. We’ve tried just about everything to control the mosquitoes except for heavy duty chemicals. I was very upset and started to question if the move had even been worth it. The hubby saw the look of sadness on my face and asked what was wrong? My answer?

Why were we able to spent more time in our old tiny backyard than on our beautiful four acres??

One of my biggest disappointments this summer has been the garden. The mosquitoes have been so bad, it’s been impossible to get into the garden to weed. I have tried long sleeves and pants, bug spray and a mosquito netting on my head and I still would only last a few minutes. I thought it might be time to give up on the garden this year. I asked the hubby if there was anything to do to try and salvage it. He said there was really nothing we could do.

Open your eyes!

Then, two days ago I was in the yard on my way back from feeding the chickens and I decided to check out the butterfly garden. That’s when I noticed something on the Common Milkweed…

A monarch caterpillar!! I instantly felt better even though the vegetable garden may be a loss for the year and the butterfly garden hasn’t flourished like I’d hoped. BUT, it was doing it’s job. A monarch caterpillar found the milkweed. I realized that next year it will be better and fuller. Next year, I’d add more plants and the ones from this year would be more established. Unfortunately, there was still that hopeless garden. As I stood there daydreaming about “next year” in the butterfly garden, the hubby comes up to me and says, “I know how to fix the garden!” He saw a sign too! It was then I realized how silly I was being to be depressed about the yard.

Be Open and Be Satisfied

Sometimes I lose focus and get so wrapped up in the negative there seems like no way out. Then, without a doubt, something happens in my life to remind me that it’s going to be okay. I remember that everything happens for a reason and just be patient. I cannot tell you how many times this has truly happened to me.

When you start losing hope…Be open and be satisfied! Sometimes you can make the changes and sometimes you need a nudge to see how change is possible. Now I can’t wait for my new caterpillar friend to change into a butterfly and fly around my beautiful, mosquito filled yard.