I have been distracted. And the distraction has kept me from doing things I would normally do – like cover amm’s rosebush for the winter. I would look out the window and think, “Man, I really need to cover that rosebush.” And I did that often, but never followed through.

And now when the weather has turned nice, I have worried that the roses wouldn’t make it through the colder months. And I felt horrible about it.

But today when I looked out the window, I thought I saw green! So once Arrine was in bed, I went outside to check on the rosebush. And the rosebush made me shed a few tears.

There between the dry, brown leaves and leftover roses from last year, there was green. Fresh, green stalks that showed promise for beautiful blooms this summer.

I am leaving behind my distracted, brown roses and focusing on my new green leaves.

New growth.