Weeds... nobody likes weeds. Nobody plants weeds. Nobody tends to weeds. Weeds grow naturally and quickly. Weeds will overtake your garden or your yard if allow them to. Nobody likes weeds.
This spring, we planted a small little raised bed garden and also planted some shrubs and flowers around the house. While the weather was cool and when summer was young, I enjoyed going out to tend to the garden. Occasionally, I would find a little weed here and there and I was able to quickly uproot it. I was on top of things, and my garden was growing and was fruitful (except for the broccoli which I planted unknowingly out of season).
Back in June, we went to the beach for 7 days and during that time my garden went untended except for being watered. That one week of letting things go was the beginning of the end of my little summer garden. I became lazy in my gardening. The heat and humidity made gardening a chore that I grew weary off. It was much easier to ignore the tending.
Today, I went out to water my dreadfully wilted potted flowers in hopes that they can recover. I went and surveyed my little garden... or what was left of it. What I found was surprising and sobering. I found weeds – not little weeds but HUGE weeds! There was no fruitfulness in my garden only the remnants of what used to be... and weeds.
In order to grow and maintain a fruitful garden, I have to constantly tend to it. I have to seek out the weeds and uproot them when they are small because if I let things go, those small little weeds will consume my garden and my yard. As I stood next to these waist high weeds, I realize how much work lies before me to get my garden back to the way it should be.
Weeds also grow in the gardens of our lives – our relationships with our spouses, with our children, with our friends, with God. Nobody likes weeds here either, yet if we fail to be diligent in tending our gardens, we will turn around to find they have been overrun with weeds. Because remember... nobody plants weeds, nobody tends to weeds, weeds grow quickly and naturally. Our relationships take work and attention, and when it gets hot and we grow weary we must continue on. We have to because weeds don't rest.
I feel like I've let a lot of weeds grow up in the gardens of my life. I've been so distracted by this and that and I have neglected the tending of my gardens.
Yesterday, Brayden and I had a rough morning. He had a poor attitude, and I was just not in the mood to deal with it. Around lunchtime he complained about being bored and said we didn't do anything because I had been on FB all morning. Well, this set me off because I actually had NOT been on FB all morning. We had done our devotion, I had done spelling with Brayden and flash cards with Asher, I had put our bathroom back together (I just painted it), I had paid some bills and I had ordered all of our homeschool curriculum. His accusation was false but the fact I was so defensive about it made me realize there were quite a few weeds in my garden.
We only have two weeks left before we start school and maybe only a few months before the girls come home. I decided I needed to minimize my distractions and focus on getting things done for and with my family. I need to tend to my gardens. So if you need me for the next couple of weeks you can email me (krisogden@hotmail.com) or call me or text me or stop by for a visit but you won't find me on FB. :)
If we have any adoption updates to share I will blog about them and Lance can share them on FB.
Until next time! -K
This spring, Lance and I planted a small garden. He laid the bed and planted the seeds, and I've nurtured them and helped them grow. He says this sounds just like making babies...
Anyways, nobody told me gardening was addictive! Before I knew it, we (Lance) had ripped up our overgrown shrubs that were in the front of the house and we planted some new plants in their place. If we were made of money I would have a full English garden by now, but our Lowes gift card ran out so we stopped buying plants. Sad day.
I don't even know what kind of bushes we pulled up, but I replaced them with Indian Hawthorns which are quite hardy. I also planted a lovely Hydrangea with purple/blue blooms in a spot where a scraggly rose bush once lived (it came with the house). Hydrangeas are some of my favorite flowering plants and this one was particularly beautiful. One of the blooms on this Hydrangea was almost 10 inches in diameter! Huge! I'll come back to my gorgeous Hydrangea in a minute.
I really and truly didn't expect to love gardening. I've always seemed to have a "black thumb" and have never had much luck with plants. I even killed a bamboo plant once. So, I just assumed it would become another chore I put off, but I love it. I look forward to going out every morning to water the plants and see what has changed. I even love pulling weeds. I wish laundry had the same appeal.
I also didn't expect to glean so many lessons about the Christian life from gardening. This has come as a complete surprise. It seems like every time I spend a few minutes surveying the fruits of my labor I always walk away pondering life; growth, faith, pain, joy, grace, provision, etc.
Ok, so back to my Hydrangea. I planted it in late March, and it was my pride. The blooms were huge and it seemed to be doing well. I was really enjoying it, but, as the days got warmer, I started noticing something that concerned me. The edges of the leaves were starting to burn up. This plant only got a handful of hours of sunlight but it was the afternoon sun. Being an amateur gardener, I didn't know that in the South Hydrangeas really like morning light and afternoon shade.
As the days passed, I decided I needed to move the Hydrangea to a shaded spot if it was going to live. I knew leaving it where it was would eventually kill it. So, I got out the shovel, put the edge to the ground, stomped on it and dug up my beloved Hydrangea. I dug another hole and placed the root ball in the ground and covered it with soil. I patted down the dirt and watered it. As harsh as it seemed to dig it up, it was the only way I knew to save it.
I tend to give my plants personalities... I'm weird. This Hydrangea did not like me digging it up and moving it somewhere new. It was quite comfy in the place where the sun beams rained down... even if it's leaves did burn up. It was used to that spot and would have preferred not to leave it, but I knew if it had stayed there it would die. For a couple of weeks after digging up it up, it seemed as though I had not saved my plant but killed it. It appeared the transplant had been too much for my Hydrangea to bear. It drooped. The blooms shriveled and browned. It was pitiful. My plant was in shock, teetering on the edge of life and death, but I continued to water it and check it because I believed I had done what was best for it even though I was taking a gamble that my plant might die.
Yesterday, I went out to check all of my plants and as I got closer to my Hydrangea plant, I noticed something really awesome... new growth! Around each stem, under the shriveled blooms, there were little sprouts of green, heathy, new leaves. I was so excited to see this and instantly I began to relate to this Hydrangea plant.
There are times in the Christian life when God has to dig us up! Sometimes he has to remove us from our comfy spot in the sunshine or else we will shrivel up and die. It's strange... to us, what feels like living is, in reality, dying. We've laid our roots and taken hold of the soil around us. Because of this, we don't want to be dug up. We don't want to move. We don't want to go through hardship. We don't want to be scared. We. Just. Don't. Wanna!
But unlike me, God is no amateur gardener. He doesn't take a gamble with our lives. He knows what we need... exactly what we need. He knows when digging us up is the BEST thing for us. While digging us up my take us out of our comfort, he does it to produce growth in us so we can live in a way that pleases Him.
He is not unkind when he puts his shovel to the ground. He is perfectly loving and tender as he unearths the most vulnerable parts of us and lays them bare to be cared for by his expert hand. He sustains us when we are weak. He never leaves us even if we feel abandoned in the shadows. He supplies all our needs even when we feel nothing but despair. If we are a part of HIS garden then we have no need to fear because HE is an expert gardener and he love each of his plants.
God, help us to embrace the times when you dig us up. Help our roots to grow strong in YOU and not the world around us. Give us courage so that we can be obedient even when it means leaving our comfort behind. Be our strength when our soul is weary and we feel as though we cannot go on. Produce growth in our lives that glorifies you and speaks of your wonderful grace!
Until next time! -K
