Planting the Future

Tuesday evening I was gifted with more than an hour with My Love helping her plant more "goodies" in her garden. Together we put in potatoes and onion sets (red, white and yellow). Yes, I know, the potatoes were supposed to be put in on Good Friday, but they only arrived this week from the seed company. Apparently, due to the economic slump, there are so many people planting their own food this year that the seed companies cannot keep up. Isn't that a wonderful thing! Think of all the quality time that people are taking to get back to the basics of life.

I couldn't help but think of my Dad, who always had a garden. When he would come home from work at the end of the day, he would go out to pull a few weeds, or water, or pick some vegetables. It was his time alone, time for peace and quiet before coming into the house to deal with us children. Somehow we knew enough not to disturb him during these precious few moments alone.

Anyway, instead of Good Friday, we celebrated Great Tuesday. It was a great feeling to get my hands into the soil and experience the hope and anticipation of the harvest as we placed each small onion and potato. In Texas, we tried one year to have a garden, but the heat was too intense. We needed to water the plants early in the morning before going to work, and then again after we came home in the evening. Then we only harvested some scrawny little vegetables. It wasn't worth it, especially when we could go 1/4 mile down the road any day of the week and buy fresh fruits and vegetables off the back of a truck.

As we were finishing our task Tuesday evening, a few drops of rain began to fall. Throughout the night and yesterday all day, we continued to receive on-again off-again light showers. It was truly God blessing our efforts! I am reminded of Paul's words in 1 Cor 3:7: "Neither he who plants nor he who waters is of any special account, only God who gives the growth."

Isn't that the way it is with everything in life? We are planting seeds, or watering what others have planted. Maybe we are even harvesting what others have labored over. But all of it is a gift from God who has given it to us.

What are you doing today? planting? or watering? or harvesting? Do it with a grateful heart.