Hydrangeas Feed My Soul

This past week I was struck by something going on in the front of our house: our blue hydrangeas have been filling in beautifully.  While I typically share about my vegetable garden, our blue hydrangeas are pretty significant to Theresa and I.   These flowers are so significant that we have planted two of these plants everywhere we have lived.

What’s the significance of blue hydrangeas?  Four years ago Theresa held a bouquet of blue hydrangeas, and wore a white dress, as she came to meet me in the front of a church.  Since that day we have been intentional about planting blue hydrangeas as a physical reminder of that day.  The last four years have been wonderful, and challenging, yet through the joys and heartbreaks our blue hydrangeas have served as a reminder of the events of June 14, 2008.

Throughout scripture we often read stories of where some builds an altar to the Lord.  A quick, and inconclusive, search turns up 19 different places where  in the Old Testament where someone built an altar to commemorate a significant interaction with God.  These monuments were meant to act as a reminder of that interaction… much like our hydrangeas.

Our vegetable garden is a hobby… something I do to unplug my brain, and feed my family.  The hydrangeas are there as a marker… reminding us of where we have been, and where we are going.  Our vegetable garden feeds our bodies, the hydrangeas feed our souls.

What have YOU planted to be an intentional reminder?

About Matt

Matt Steen has been trying for years to grow a watermelon. A consultant and coach by day, helping churches through his work at churchsimple.net, he spends his nights and weekends defending his raised beds from the evil rabbits that prowl the backyard of his Long Island home.

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