Coming Back

     So.....close to one year later, and here I am posting. This day is a good as any to jump right back in. I have spent these months surrounded by stacks of books. On every available surface.....books. Theology books to be exact. Meals have been prepared and enjoyed around these stacks. Friends and family have gathered for birthdays, holidays and celebrations. Decisions and discussions have taken place while peering at one another over paperback and bound copies with titles such as Evil and the Justice of God, Rediscovering the Triune God, and The Domestication of Transcendence. Fall, winter, spring and half of summer have come and gone and these seasons have not exactly been free and easy. You see, my husband has been working to complete his dissertation, and we have recently celebrated a long awaited graduation ceremony. And thousands of words later, forming an impressive, massive amount of work, he is now a Doctor of Divinity.

 

      Am I boasting-yes!!!! I am so proud of him. And  I believe the work he has done will benefit many. What have I been doing? Taking a break from my own full time status as a student-too many books (and students) in one household can cause craziness and conflict!) I have spent this time doing lots of cooking in order to feed the hungry scholar "brain food", while hopefully, but not perfectly, encouraging and supporting the whole process, (with the help of some very kind and good friends and family) Now-what am I getting back to? During the long winter months I dreamed of and planned my garden. I poured through gardening magazines and books, including The Vegetable Gardener's Bible. As soon as the weather warmed I began my work. I found this quote in a gardening magazine 

" Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant"

 -Robert Louis Stevenson-

 I decided to put this into practice, and every morning as I work in the garden, I carry seeds. Every day I plant something, at times, just a few seeds, or a transplant tucked in the soil. Planting is my focus, not the harvest. Oh yes, of course I hope for a bountiful harvest. I believe this can also be a wise way to look at  relationships, and what I am able to give to others, as well. As my husband worked on his dissertation,  many words were carefully typed one by one to create something much bigger than he had even imagined in the beginning. I know that when I focus on the harvest, rather than the planting of seed, I tend to become tired and discouraged-because waiting is hard. So I will plant, plant plant! And in its own time, there will be a harvest! 

Keep Planting. Keep Watching.

   Here in my home among this little haven oak grove, I have tried to grow many things. I began planting a vegetable garden four years ago, after years of dreaming, planning and inspiration resulting from gazing at beautiful, lush, pristine gardens in Martha Stewart and Sunset magazines. I pictured myself harvesting beautiful baskets of perfect veggies....

      Year one deer razed four garden boxes clean to the ground overnight. Year two, after putting up deer fencing and feeling quite secure, gophers, squirrels, and then finally horribly ugly tomato worms consumed most of the fruit.....

      Year three, with the help of a shotgun-no worries, the deer are always safe here- I thought things were under control, until I found chipmunks had stolen most of my prized tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers. I won’t mention how I dealt with them…..This year four, I have used every strategy gained to protect my fruits and veggies, only to find locusts have consumed all my lettuce, spinach, and ground squirrels have eaten through all mesh coverings and grabbed half my tomatoes! Instead of baskets of glorious veggies, I harvest just a few. But I tell you, my family enjoys every morsel from the garden. They know how hard I have worked out there.....

     Some days, I am really angry, as I imagine I am tending and watering just to feed some nasty villain who will come snatch all my hard work away. But I will not give up! My next approach will be a greenhouse where I can shut and lock out all those predators! Last summer as I ventured out to garden in the early morning light, I found a huge rattler trapped in some mesh-a very hopeful visual for the here and now, and a foreshadowing of its ultimate future demise. Ha!

     

      I’m sure you guessed early on my garden has come to represent so much more to me. And I’m sure I will one day have loads of fruits and veggies as I will persist and use all knowledge gained. I even have the “seemingly” ridiculous notion I will one day soon have enough harvest to share with friends and family, and even open a produce stand and nursery. Beyond the trouble and dissapointment, I can’t get enough of the way the damp earth smells, the excitement of those first true leaves springing up from seed, the appearance of the first fruits, and of contemplating life and the things I have sown and nurtured and those things I have been given charge over, as I plant, tend and water. Some have borne immediate fruit and victory, some things I’ve needed to start over or change, and some I’ve been watching for a very long time-waiting for the first true leaves to show. But in all I will not give up planting and nurturing, protecting, persisting and pressing on forward in hope for the future!

                                 

     Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  (Romans 5:5)