My Garden is In!
What didn't die, anyway!
Over the next couple of days, I'm going to try to do some posts about my garden and what I got out of it this season, which I think was more spiritual than physical!
Our lesson to study this week in our Sunday School book, Salt and Light, is titled 'A Farmer in God's Harvest'. This gave me some additional thoughts to add to what I'd already discovered from my own experience. (Funny how things work out that way, huh)?
I'd always taken it for granted that the reason why the Lord used so many parables and illustrations involving farming of one sort or another was because that's what most people did, in the areas in which he taught. Which, now that I think about it, doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Sure there were farmers, but Rome didn't run purely on crops. In fact, probably a lot of it was trade. Spices, cloth, precious stones and minerals, that sort of thing.
I am now convinced, having had a taste of gardening, that the reason why the Lord used this was because every aspect of it parallels the life of a Christian. (Duh, right?) This is yet another case of how you don't know something, until you know it, until you've experienced it first hand. And any person who hasn't had the satisfaction of growing something other than springtime flowers should try it, at least on something small. Tomatoes, for instance. Or sweet potatoes. This was my very first attempt at gardening, and I conducted my little experiment on my back porch, in large storage bins I bought from Wal-Mart.
I actually tried quite a few things. Ten, to be exact. Some grew, some died. Some flourished, some just barely hung in there. Some just went dormant, much to my surprise. All of which was influenced by sun, soil, water, and the gardener's knowledge, or lack thereof. But what I grew or didn't grow isn't the point. It's what I learned in the end.
As I started writing down thoughts and organizing what I wanted to post here, I thought how wonderful it would be for someone to write a children's book on gardening. The steps involved, corresponding to what the Lord tells us about our own spiritual garden. If anyone knows of such a book, please let me know!
I hope what's written in the days to come will give some interesting, at the least, things to think about.
Fight the good fight, (with Salt and Light)
Jenny
Over the next couple of days, I'm going to try to do some posts about my garden and what I got out of it this season, which I think was more spiritual than physical!
Our lesson to study this week in our Sunday School book, Salt and Light, is titled 'A Farmer in God's Harvest'. This gave me some additional thoughts to add to what I'd already discovered from my own experience. (Funny how things work out that way, huh)?
I'd always taken it for granted that the reason why the Lord used so many parables and illustrations involving farming of one sort or another was because that's what most people did, in the areas in which he taught. Which, now that I think about it, doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Sure there were farmers, but Rome didn't run purely on crops. In fact, probably a lot of it was trade. Spices, cloth, precious stones and minerals, that sort of thing.
I am now convinced, having had a taste of gardening, that the reason why the Lord used this was because every aspect of it parallels the life of a Christian. (Duh, right?) This is yet another case of how you don't know something, until you know it, until you've experienced it first hand. And any person who hasn't had the satisfaction of growing something other than springtime flowers should try it, at least on something small. Tomatoes, for instance. Or sweet potatoes. This was my very first attempt at gardening, and I conducted my little experiment on my back porch, in large storage bins I bought from Wal-Mart.
I actually tried quite a few things. Ten, to be exact. Some grew, some died. Some flourished, some just barely hung in there. Some just went dormant, much to my surprise. All of which was influenced by sun, soil, water, and the gardener's knowledge, or lack thereof. But what I grew or didn't grow isn't the point. It's what I learned in the end.
As I started writing down thoughts and organizing what I wanted to post here, I thought how wonderful it would be for someone to write a children's book on gardening. The steps involved, corresponding to what the Lord tells us about our own spiritual garden. If anyone knows of such a book, please let me know!
I hope what's written in the days to come will give some interesting, at the least, things to think about.
Fight the good fight, (with Salt and Light)
Jenny
Comments
Post a Comment