Skip to main content

Remember

           But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. (Deuteronomy 7:18)

I usually write about this in December, but events brought it to mind in the past few days. I have been gardening for years, and every spring, I go through  the same stress. I need to get the plants in the ground now and it doesn’t matter that it’s only April 1 and we’re likely to get cold weather and possibly snow at least a couple more times. I’m not alone in this. The garden center where I work was busier in April than it is now. Once I do get them in the ground, it seems like I spend forever agonizing. They aren’t growing. Whine, kvetch, groan, moan, whimper, grouse and stamp my not so little feet. I’ve failed again. Not only have I failed as a gardener, but in so doing, I’ve failed as a butterfly nurturer.

A few days ago, my mind finally informed me that my garden is finally taking shape. It’s beginning to be a garden. I’ve started harvesting, and some of what I’m harvesting, I’m harvesting in abundance. I also found three Black Swallowtail caterpillars on my dill. And just as those facts finally penetrate the fog of disappointment in my mind, Facebook pops up with a memory with pictures of the garden from one year ago, finally getting going.

I will also point out that last year, I started my garden at the end of April, and had to replace several plants that never got started. This year, I waited (for the most part) until the week before Memorial Day.

There are several lessons here. First, it doesn’t seem to matter whether you plant early or wait until the official planting season. It still takes  until about the end of June for the plants to get going. That means planting three or four weeks early won’t bring in tomatoes any faster. Secondly, gardens have to go through a “yuck factor” time – a time before they become the gorgeous plants you want them to be. That time is longer if you’re impatient and plant early. And fourthly, keeping information like this somewhere helps you learn such lessons. I caught it this  year using Facebook, but I’ve also recorded it in my gardening journal so that when I’m having hissy fits because I can’t plant yet, or because I planted and they’re not being what I want yet, I can look back and note the critical information that they’re not supposed to. This is normal. This is, in fact, good, and I need to simmer down. It means that with regard to gardening, at least, I now have learned the pattern that God created things to follow.

This is also why we need to journal about what is going on in our lives – even if it’s only when something impresses us. That short account might be what helps you through the next crisis.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more