From Fallow to Fruitful

This morning I began my adventure as a gardener. I'm not totally without experience, we had large home gardens growing up and I always enjoyed the beauty and bounty they provided. I wonder if Dad knows I'd sneak the ripe cherry tomatoes right off the vine and still warm from the sun... By 5 p.m. bedtime for the kids couldn't arrive quickly enough, Emma was whining and Aiden was "just soooooooooooooo tired." Now everything is quiet, cortisone has been applied to itchy little bodies, I'm clean, laundry is going and this cool chardonnay is lovely. As I looked back over the pictures from our day, I paused and smiled. Yes, I'm tired, but what a lovely day it was and what amazing children I have. I am also thankful beyond words for Ansley and Brian sharing a day off to lend a hand, my feeling of biting off far more than I can chew turned into one of success because of their help.

While I was cleaning out the area for our garden before reinforcements arrived, I had two thoughts that kept rattling around in my head when I wasn't smacking sand gnats. First, I was doing this for FUN. I wasn't hacking at the ground because it was the only way my family would eat, it was recreation. Yes, I will enjoy the vegetables and flowers that I provide for us but it's not a NECESSITY. How humbling a thought that was. I am looking forward to the opportunity to teach my children many things as we watch our garden sprout and flourish and the lesson of provision will certainly be a topic we address.

Secondly, and more importantly, as I was digging and scraping a place for our garden I wondered if God found my heart as dry, hard and unwilling to yield as the little dirt patch in our yard. When we

assembled our tidy beds and poured in the dark soft soil all I could think was that I wanted my heart to be more like that soil. It was deep and rich, it yielded easily to our hands. What a real life example of the parable of the sower, I want my heart to be fertile ground, ready to yield to God's touch. Ready to nourish and give fruit to the seeds He chooses to sow.