Things I Have Learned From My Garden
One of the things that I brought back to life during this stay at home time was my vegetable garden. This involved having to move its location because over the years my neighbors’ tree has grown and now produces constant shade, which is not great for a vegetable garden. Before I moved my garden boxes, I laid black plastic down to kill the grass underneath. I used this technique with my original garden, and it worked great. When I lifted the plastic off, the grass was dead, so I cleaned the dead grass out as best I could and proceeded to add the soil and plant my vegetables. Gardening had begun by a very novice gardener at best.
My first lesson I learned is patience. Looking back I should have kept the plastic down longer than I did but I was in a hurry to get going and pushed on even though there was still grass that I could not remove but I figured that it would be 6-8 inches under soil. I reasoned that all plants need 3 things, soil, water, and sun. The grass wasn’t getting sun so all should be good. Wrong! I now have grass coming up in my vegetable garden. So instead of pulling out weeds I pull out grass.
This past Sunday I was out removing grass when I started reflecting on relationships and learned a few more things in the process. Relationships like gardens need to be tended to and nurtured. As I looked at a green bean plant that was truly not doing well, it was time to acknowledge that its time had come to an end. I thought about how God has put into my life different people during times when I needed their gifts the most. For some of those people, our relationships have come to an end. It wasn’t that they weren’t tended or nurtured, it was just that they did the work that God was asking them to do. I learned that even though the bean plant had come to an end, just like some of my personal relationships, the time that we shared together was a gift.
As I trimmed off dead leaves on my zucchini plants, they pricked and poked my arms. I learned that just like zucchini plants some relationships are scratchy. They don’t always go smoothly and there can be some uncomfortable times. But the pricks and pokes aren’t lasting. As I looked at my tomato plant full of tomatoes, I thought about how some relationships flourish. I learned that there are relationships that produce meaningful dialogues and memories and, in these relationships, both people nurture each other just like the relationship between the plant and gardener.
Some of my relationships have required patience and not all of them have lasted forever and some have had their scratchy moments, while some have really flourished. Sometimes my relationship is like that with God too. I sometimes lose my patience and think God isn’t doing enough or doing it fast enough. There have been times in my life that I have let my relationship with God end and times where it has really flourished. I am thankful that through all these different experiences that God has remained patient with me tending and nurturing me like a gardener to their garden.
“Thanks be to God for God’s inexpressible gift!” 2 Cor. 9:15
 Dear God, We have many different relationships with many different people, and you have been there with us through them all. You have guided us through the hard and difficult times and have celebrated with us when relationships flourish. That brings us comfort to know that you walk with us in those relationships. God, we give thanks for the relationship we have with you and the patience that you grant us when we stray away.
Many blessings, Marty