Work that Heals Us

n April last year, we added this little greenhouse. I planted seeds with excitement —never knowing how life would change in just a couple of months. After Randy went to Heaven, the plants wilted, the soil hardened, and the greenhouse slowly turned into a storage shed—a quiet reminder of everything I’d lost. I couldn’t step inside without feeling the hollow ache of what was missing. We all have those “greenhouses” in our lives—places that once brought joy, but now sit untouched because of loss, exhaustion, or disappointment. They become symbols of what’s gone instead of what could still grow. It reminds me of a scene in Under the Tuscan Sun — the ladybug scene. Catherine tells Frances (Diane Lane), “You’re sad. You think you’ve failed.” Then she tells her about chasing ladybugs as a child—how she searched and searched until she finally gave up, fell asleep in the grass, and when she woke up— they were crawling all over her. “So?” Frances asks. “So go work on your house and forget about it,” Catherine says. She sees her friend’s ache, names it, and then offers this quiet wisdom: stop chasing what’s lost, and life will find you again. There’s truth in that. When I finally opened the greenhouse door again, the air felt tender—almost sacred—as if the space had been waiting for me all this time. As I swept away cobwebs and scrubbed it clean, something shifted. The grief didn’t vanish, but it softened. Healing often hides in the work of our hands. Work grounds us. It restores order. It makes space for joy to slip back in quietly. And sometimes God revives what we thought was gone—simply because we show up. So if you’ve lost your spark, don’t chase it — “Go work on your house and forget about it.”  You might be surprised at what starts to grow again — inside and out.❤️😊 “And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” ~1 Peter 5:10