Almost four years ago, Chris and I bought a small hydrangea plant.  We both love hydrangeas, and we wanted one in our yard.  We were still living in Louisiana at the time.  This little plant did not do so well in our yard of our old house.  It did not get enough sun, and it lived but never really thrived.  I think it had one bloom a year back home.

When we moved, I decided to dig up this plant along with a few many other plants from my yard.  So many of my plants that I moved had been given to me from family members and friends.  I moved a fern that is from a clipping of my great-grandmother’s fern.  I moved an azalea my grandmother gave me when Brady was born.  I moved a fern my aunt and uncle gave me when Chris and I first moved into our house.  These plants had special meaning to me, and I did not feel right leaving them behind for someone else to tend too.  All of the plants along with the hydrangea came with me to Georgia.

As transitions go for any of us, when we initially re-set our roots into new soil (whether that be a new city, a new job, a new role, a new anything in life), we were fighting for our survival. The same was true for my little hydrangea our first year here.  It survived, but it never really seemed to thrive. This summer it has come back and bloomed in full force!

Becky Eldredge

Becky is an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer. She is the author of the Busy Lives and Restless Souls (March 2017, Loyola Press) and The Inner Chapel (April 2020, Loyola Press). She helps others create space to connect faith and everyday life through facilitating retreats and days of reflection, through writing, and through spiritual direction. With nearly twenty years of ministry experience within the Catholic Church, Becky seeks to help others discover God at work in the every day moments of people’s lives by utilizing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and the many gifts that our Catholic faith and Ignatian Spirituality provide.