The Garden

In the back of a cabinet down in our basement, in a room I call my studio, I recently found a bin full of treasures.  A lifetime of writings.  

The following excerpt was written on November 19, 1980.  At that time I was 27 years old. Luke and I had been married 8 years, and we had three young children, 7, 5, and 3.  We were living in a Chicago suburb and were very active in our church, the church we were married in.  In the backyard of our home was a very large garden which was a joy, a frustration, and an opportunity to learn some sweet lessons from the original Gardener.

The Garden

My life is like a garden.

The Gardener hoes it and breaks up the clumps which hinder growth.

He throws out some of the rocks, but some stay for proper drainage.

He sprinkles just the right amount of fertilizer to promote anticipation 

and eagerness for what is to come.

The Gardener carefully plans each row.

Impatiently we wait to see the evidence of growth.

Each day we watch and soon the first growth appears, and we are glad because of it.

And then, there is more, and more.

And another, until the rows are filled with the promise of new fruit.

But as we experience the joy of it, we realize with sadness the the new seedlings are so crowded in the row that they are choking each other and soon they will die.

We then must decide.

To do the thinning process in a garden is a painful thing, 

for we must pull up healthy plants so that the end result will be fruitful.

Those that remain must represent the whole, 

so with the help of the Gardener, careful thinning is beneficial.

It rains, and we once again despair of ever seeing any fruit from the garden 

for the rain is cold, and it comes in torrents.

But the rain is necessary and causes more growth, and with it comes hope for a new day.

The roots of the seedlings grow stronger and stretch farther and farther following the moisture into the soil and finding there true and lasting sustenance.

The sunshine warms the new leaves, and they reach skyward yearning to be freed from their earthly dimensions but emulating and reflecting the sun that causes their ever increasing life.

When fruit appears it is the Gardener Who glorifies in it.

It is He Who loved the Garden.

It is He Who planned it.

And the not yet mature plants rejoice in the purpose of living and the miracle of growth.

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As I now hold the yellowed typewriter written page, so many years later,  I still remember what I was learning in that moment.  I was struggling with balancing my family, my service in the church, and ‘sitting at the feet of Jesus.’  Just abiding with Him.  

Jesus says in John 15: 5, “Yes, I am the vine, you are the branches.  Those who remain in Me and I in them will produce much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” 

In the first verse of this chapter Jesus says “My Father is the Gardener.”

In the Old Testament, Proverbs 3: 5 & 6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek His will in all you do and He will show you what path to take.”

My life is still like a garden.  Sometimes I imagine going back to those days of young children, and finding the box of writings certainly helps me to do that.  Remembering the joys and lessons of growth in them and in myself causes ‘down on my face’ gratitude.  

I have not yet achieved the perfect garden, and I still struggle with knowing which ‘healthy plants’ to thin and which show the most promise of fruit.  I humbly yield to The Gardener and “trust in Him with all my heart.”  Seeking His will (obedience and giving Him glory) and waiting for Him to show me which path to take.  He always does.

This sign hangs next to my chair where I ‘sit at the feet of Jesus.’ A simple reminder each day to “think on these things!”

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.

Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:8

To God be the glory!  He is worthy!