Lesson One: We are precious.
I've already mentioned the care I took into planning my garden...if you care, see previous post. But once all the preparations were done, the real fun started. And by real fun I mean actually growing something. I planted my seeds the first week of April. I was scared to plant them because it was supposed to rain all week and I didn't want my seeds getting washed away. But my Dad gave me wisdom and said the rain would make the seeds sprout faster. (Hmmm. That line in itself could produce a whole lesson of its own.) So I planted them and allowed my kids to help which was painstaking because I wanted it to be perfect. And it was, but not in the world's way of perfect (outward appearance). It was the perfection that comes from time with your kids out in the world working in the dirt and passing on passion.
The seeds were in and then began my least favorite of tasks. Waiting. I have never been abounding in patience. Fishing, not my thing. Boiling water, not my thing either. The list could go on, but you get the point. Something about waiting for plants to grow is different. It wasn't just patience, but excitement and expectation. Everyday I got up and watered my plants. I watched and I waited for the smallest sign of life. Clearly my eyes are aging because my kids were always the first to spot a new green shoot breaking through the ground. Every time a new sprout broke through I felt joy. My seeds were alive a thriving! If they made it through to the surface there was hope. Each day brought new wonder and awe. I wish I could video the garden at night because I swear something magical happens over night out there. The plants take all the energy from the sun and shoot it out through their little bodies and grow. I never marked anything so sometimes I wasn't even sure what was growing. I was so concerned over if they were going to grow and make it. Was that a cabbage? Why did those two sprouts look the same? What if my lavender doesn't come through? My 7 year old would tell me, "mom, just wait until they grow bigger, then you can tell what it is". Such patience found in her, that I didn't even have.
I fill you in on all these mundane details because in them I found my first lesson. We are precious to God. If I, a mere human, could find such joy in the growth of a seed. If each seed's progress was precious to my heart...Then how much more does our Father find joy in our growth and find our lives and the details of our hearts and progress precious??? Much more. Much, much more.
I'll say it again, we are precious to Him. He delights in our progress and growth. If we are failing to thrive He is sees. He is concerned over our well-being. He watches over us and tends to us and waters us. He prepares the setting of our lives in His supreme, all-knowing ways. He uses the rain and storms to profit us. His goal is for our survival, for us to spread our roots deep where He places us and grow, grow, grow. Nothing escapes his notice when it comes to our lives. He sees us.
I've always known I was precious to Him, but I have found this knowledge grow in much deeper revelation each day I work in my garden. As I tend my garden, He tends to me. It is His grace and joy to speak to me while I do something that I love. Many lessons in my life have come through sorrow, but this one has come through joy.
This is the Gardener's Heart: us.
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