Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Garden envy and what my garden is teaching me

We are watering a garden for a couple on vacation and it is amazing. They have pumpkins, corn, two types of cucumbers, squash, green beans, tomatoes, and more. Plus I am seeing so many fellow bloggers start to harvest great veggies, but my garden is still lacking.
My lettuce, carrots, and radishes all died (I started them from seed, and they didn't do well.) I also lost a cucumber plant.
My tomatoes, peppers, an eggplant are doing ok, but I don't have any veggies yet.

Also my garden is really dry, we are watering it at least once a day. I don't remember watering this much last year (I had a different yard.)

So I am having garden envy. I want fresh veggies from my garden now.

So you know a lesson is coming. God is using my garden to remind me to be patient. Also to be thankful. I have a yard and a garden and will have fresh veggies soon enough.

In life I am so impatient as well. I don't want to wait on God's timing. So time and time again I do it my way. But every time I end up with heartache or at least a missed blessing.

God doesn't withhold things from us because He is cruel, He withholds because He knows what is best for us. He sees the future (He wrote it.) Even though I know the blessings the times I have waited and done it His way, it still is so hard. We live in a get it now culture. Just Do It is a popular slogan. Meaning You just do it. But this is counter to God's plan. We need to seek Him and do His will. We need to die to self to follow Him.

Not because He wants us to lose ourselves, not because He has to be right, but because He loves us and He has a plan for us that we could never imagine. Way better than anything we can do or get ourselves. And the more we follow His plan, the more we are our true selves. The more we become like Christ. The more we can further His kingdom.

That is the ultimate goal, not what else we can get for ourselves or what we can do. But how can we share Him with others. If we are following His will for our lives people will see Him in us more and more seeds will be planted for Him.

This really makes me think. Lately I have been living big time for me. What is good for me, convenient for me. I have left Christ out of my decisions and daily life. This has only gotten me more pain and further from Him. This is counter to where I want to be.

I remember having such a fire for Christ not so long ago. I desired being with Him, growing in Him, and sharing Him. Now I am cold. My goals are how much relaxing I can do and what will make my life easier.

I can continue to live like this, but what will the fruits be?

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

Nothing, that about sums it up right now. But that is not what I want. I want to bear good fruit.

How is this possible?

Well if I look at how to get good veggies in my garden, I can apply that to my life.

1) Prepare the soil.
I need to prepare my heart each day with daily time before the Lord just listening to Him.

2) Add seeds (plants.)
The word of Christ, the Bible, is a seed I want planted in my heart. I need to spend time reading His word every day.

3) Water daily.
Christ is the everlasting water, I need Him all day. I need to talk to Him in prayer throughout my day.

4) Add sunshine.
I need to surround myself with people who are living and growing in Christ, they can be a light for me.

5) Remove weeds.
Sin will take over. My heart can not serve two masters, the sin will win out if I don't take proactive steps and flee from sin, remove it completely from my life.

6) Enjoy the fruit (veggies.)
Rejoice in my blessings. Take joy in my circumstances.

7) Share the bounty.
Just as I share my produce each season I need to be sharing Christ in all I do. Hopefully, as I grow closer to Him people will see Him more in my life even without me saying a word.

Dear Lord,
I pray this would serve as a reminder that we all need to be growing in you and patient on your will.
In Jesus Name,
Amen

-Becky

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Beautiful, insightful post, Becky. Thanks for sharing!

Mair said...

about your garden - last year was extremely cool and wet, this year is extremely warm and dry. try watering for longer, or twice a day. might help. good luck.

GAmomdb said...

I loved your post and the insight. I have one word for your garden--MULCH!! The best gardening tool that I have ever bougtht, besides the long and short handeled maddock, was an electric leaf mulcher. I live in an area with lots of leaves, so I can make tons of mulch (I will never run out of leaves). I don't know how many trees you have, but it chews them up into little peices and you can water and the much helps retain the water, breaks down to provide nutrients and it looks great! I think mine cost about $130. Maybe you could get family, friends, meighbors, etc to go in together. It takes the same line as weed whachers, so that doesn't cost much. Lettuce, bolts when it gets hot. I also have grow boxes on my deck with beans, tomatoes, peppers, basil and eggplant. A bit pricy to start, but they last for years! I do raised beds for my garden. It is a bit of an investment to start, but it makes gardening so much easier. I will send you Square Foot Gardening if you send me your address. I live in an area that is clay, rocks and roots. Not veggie compatible. Let me know.
Donna

Ann Flowers said...

I just recently discovered your blog and am so glad I did. What a sweet post!

Becky R said...

Thanks for all the tips.

Thanks also for reading my blog!

Sisters of the Blog said...

Becky, i remember in another post you mentioned mowing the grass. If you have a mulching mower, you can mow that over a pile of leaves, and that will work, too.

You can also simply bag up the leaves in a plastic bag in the fall, leave them over winter, and put them on the garden in spring.

I've also used unmulched leaves. They smother weeds, keep the moisture in and break down eventually.

I use double-dug beds and add as much compost as i can. I'm amazed at how much water compost can hold; that plus the mulch on top can make it great in dry periods.

megan