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Dangerous Wonder
Oct. 6, 2006
Fall Gardening: Treasures in the Earth
Things I have learned about gardening and my garden of life:
In my previous post I explained to you that I was doing a little
gardening in one flower bed. I tore everything out...including the
bulbs (which took careful digging and salvaging). This whole process
took me about 4 hours on Saturday. Then on Monday, I decided I best get
these bulbs in place along with all the other ones that had arrived via
the postman. This process took another 5 hours. Whew! This gardening
business is not for the faint of heart! My last thing that I need to do
is put the beloved mulch on it to protect it from the winter cold here
in Minnesota.
After all this work, I began wondering if my flowers were even going to
work come spring. I started worrying that all my neighbors had seen me
laboring and then this spring when nothing comes up, or it looks all
crazy that they'll all chuckle at my efforts. I don't think God worries
about all His efforts in the garden with us. I think He's most excited
about what is growing and developing under that soil in the dark. So am
I still a wee bit anxious? Yeah, but I have learned some important
lessons through all my laboring in the dirt.
#1. When things are overgrown, entangled in weeds and chaotic...the
garden looks crazy, doesn't always bloom and needs some major work to
be done on it.
In my life I think that spiritually I am way
overgrown in some areas that aren't producing any fruit. I have found
my thoughts and actions entangled in those weeds that so easily
strangle and frustrate my life. I have to rediscover how many beautiful
bulbs are still under the surface waiting to bloom to life.
#2. So the digging up of dead plants, yucky weeds and precious flower
bulbs needs to take place. This is a long, painful (tough digging!) and
exhausting process that is bound to frustrate, weaken and tire one out.
I have to decide which plants stay and which ones have to go.
There are things like complacency, laziness,
over-commitment, lack of self-discipline, lack of organization,
piles of papers, laundry, ironing, dishes, dust, cob-webs...things that
distract me like the computer, videos, shopping...attitudes that are
not glorifying our maker and words spoken that come quick and with
volume! There are so many more things to dig up!
I had forgotten my love of the Word. My love for
being hospitable, being generous, being kind. I had forgotten who I was
in Christ. That I was dearly loved and cherished. That I am not
laboring in vain here at home with my precious children. That I have
passions to create things and to explore the outdoors, to run free and
play with my kids. I had forgotten the joys of spending time with my
little peanuts in the quiet of the afternoon with books on their bed. I
had forgotten to smell the beautiful aromas of life. As I have been
rediscovering all the beautiful things growing in the dirt waiting for
the spring, I am reminded that when these beautiful flowers bloom and
then go back for more growth, they multiply and bring more flowers in
the next season. My garden will be bursting forth with glorious flowers
more and more as the seasons and years go by. Hallelujah!
#3 I must replant my bulbs and plants for next
season in a way that will be beneficial for their optimal growth and
arranged in a way that is pleasing to the eye.
There are certain things that have to be done for
plants and bulbs so that they will grow properly. Some plants need to
be placed in a hole at least 12 inches deep, most bulbs need to be
placed in the ground 3-6 inches deep. They all need to have the roots
going down into the dirt, not up into the air.
Growing my garden in a mismatched, chaotic way may
prove to be very exciting...but probably not the most beautiful. Some
flowers flourish when they are grouped together rather than having a
lone bulb here and there.
So what can I apply to my life here? Just reading my
Bible to put a check in the box is not helping my roots grow deep. It's
like planting God's Word upside down. If I read my Bible and study
deeper and apply those truths to my life, then that is going to help my
roots be firmly planted and strectching towards the water source. Then
by being a godly example to my children, I then help in the process of
multiplying more fruit in their lives.
But if I go volunteer at Awana, then spend 1 night a
week at a soup kitchen, then go door to door handing out tracks and
then volunteer for Sunday School, lead a Bible Study, host a prayer
meeting, play guitar for worship, volunteer at the local library, be a
Girl Scout leader, help with political campaigns and lobby for the
rights of dolphins.....these are all noble things, but life would be
entirely too "exciting" and not very beautiful. It would be chaos of
good things. The Lord wants us to use our time and space wisely.
This season He may want us to work on our job as a wife and mother and
work on our attitudes and quiet times. Next season He may want us to
volunteer at Awana or Sunday School and continue the work as wife and
mom. Maybe the following season He wants your family to be active
politically in the presidential race and working together as a team for
the glory of God. Remember, you can't do it all and there is a season
for everything. If we try to do everything at once, we will certainly
fall apart and not bring forth any fruit or flowers!
#4 Mulching my plants for protection through the winter.
Some of us may be going through the longest winter
of our lives. It's dark, it's cold and it seems that it will never end.
We are in desperate need to stay full of life, warm and hopeful. The
mulch we need to cover ourselves in should be prayer, the Christian
community and our family. Without this warm blanket of protection we
will surely lose the light of life, freeze and lose all hope. If you
are needing some protection right now, please get on your knees and ask
the Lord who loves you to send you some. Don't hide away from the
brothers and sisters in Christ who care about you. Don't push away your
own family. It's time to circle the wagons with your Christian
community, your family and most of all, pure/passionate prayer to the
God of the universe!
So as your working in your garden this fall, think
about what your digging up, what you need to save and what needs to go,
where and how you will plant your bulbs and to always protect them from
the cold harsh winter! Come spring, you'll be so glad you took the time
so all the glorious color can burst forth from your garden!
Blessings my friends!!!!
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