Our garden has been a major time sponge as of late.

Yes, there has been some extra travel from family circumstances and some volunteer obligations. But what has occupied a large portion of my free time has been taming the jungle that is our backyard.

That’s given me lots of time to mull over the lessons my garden has given me.

Here’s a few of them.

If you expect any fruit(or vegetables), you have to plant some seeds.

I didn’t plant this garden to save money. I dare say the cost of seeds, water, a new sprinkler, and garbage bags for the weeds will make these some expensive veggies. That’s not even counting the cost of my time to tend the garden.

But, have you ever had fresh sweet corn straight off the stalk? Nothing compares – except maybe that crisp snap of just picked green beans, or that tantalizing aroma when you slice a cucumber just in from the garden.

I’m hopeful for these sensations come harvest time.

I’ve also lived long enough to see some of the kids I’ve taught over the years in children’s church and youth groups grow up to be joyful, thoughtful, caring adults. While I can’t claim all the credit for that, I can tell that some of the seeds I planted in their lives years ago have taken hold and borne fruit .

Sowing seeds costs, but it is so very worth it!

Soil prep is important.

The ground in our backyard is mostly clay. Even the shallow roots of grass have a hard time taking hold and staying put.

When I first planned a vegetable garden, I knew I had my work cut out for me. I rented a tiller. Then mixed in many bags of top-soil. That gave the veggies the nutrients they need and provided room for roots. How much room remains to be seen when I harvest the carrots.

There’s an old saying for those who want to preach or teach – “They won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Many people today have a warped view of the Gospel as just an old religion full of rules. Sometimes it takes time and consistent care to bring people to the point where they’ll even listen.

Every person is different and the real work is done by the Holy Spirit.

But God uses those times when you simply listen to people, help them, or just have fun with them.

When they see the reality of the Gospel at work in your life, they’ll be more receptive to it.

I also found that –

Weeds are a pain, but you gotta take care of them.

We’ve had a very wet Spring and Summer this year. When I was out of town for a while in late Spring, I came home to grass over a foot high and weeds taller than me. Our flower beds and xeriscaped area were completely overrun with weeds and the vegetable garden wasn’t far behind. This past two weeks, I’ve been working constantly and am down to spreading the last few bags of mulch. Thankfully, I’ve had some help.

The same is true for our lives.

The sins and distractions that keep us from being fruitful constantly crop up.

We need to accept the help of friends and God to get it clear.

Jesus comes along and does the hard work but we need to be willing to let him.

The work doesn’t end there. The weeds will keep coming back and I’ll keep pulling them, though it will be much easier now that the bulk of them are gone.

Plants need water – water comes from storms.

In Colorado, we usually have to water a lot. We’ve been blessed with a lot of wet weather lately so I’ve saved a ton on our water bill. Unfortunately, I’ve also had to fight to keep our basement dry. Our cars and trash cans bear the scars of hail.

One storm a couple years ago brought so much damage we had to replace our roof.

But we ended up with a much stronger roof.

To grow spiritually, sometimes we have to apply water ourselves with times of study and prayer.

Other times growth is thrust upon us with the storms of life.

Oddly, the single event that brought the most growth in my life was divorce. The emotional pain was horrendous but it opened my eyes to areas where I needed to change and caused me to seek a much closer relationship with God.

I never recommend divorce or any other tragedy, but I strongly recommend that we use those times to grow.

Not everything is a metaphor.

The largest plants in our garden are the corn stalks. Given their size, I’m not as concerned about the small weeds around them.

I thought about that in terms of sin and the predominant ministry in my life – student ministry.

The metaphor doesn’t work.

Even small sins can have serious consequences when you are a leader of young people. It’s critical that I keep a tight lid on even small sins. I need to keep my mind pure so even the smallest sins don’t take root in my life.

If you’re human (and I hope you are), you know that’s not easy. I’m far from perfect and have the same struggles as anyone else.

But one small sin, leading to another could wipe out all the work of ministry I’ve ever done.

 

My gardening thoughts covered many other topics. Maybe I’ll post some of those at harvest time. Until then, Keep planting seeds, watering, and pulling weeds.

Now I gotta go.

I see another weed popping up.