The harvest is plentiful…5 Things I Learned Planting My First Garden

Living a life of mission can be really rewarding some days.  But, many are just plain TOUGH! A constant struggle between the microwave, instantaneous society we live in, and the sometimes difficult, almost ALWAYS lengthy process of going deep and building relationships. Living a life of mission is to BE the church and DO the Bible. It’s not a drive-by, hit-and-run way of life. As a matter of fact, it is a way of life, not a one-time event or project. That’s what makes it so hard….and that’s what makes it so rewarding at the same time. With my new ‘eyes’, I can’t just go home and not see the challenges every. single. moment. of. every. single. day.  On days where it’s more challenging than most, it’s a matter of pausing from my ‘Martha’ activities and spending time going deep in my relationship with Jesus….it’s time to ‘Mary’.

This morning has been a ‘Mary Morning’. For reasons left untold, the last 24 hours have been tough – mentally and emotionally – for me. My ‘Mary Morning’ consisted of…

• reading God’s Word
• sitting quietly
• cooking
• a few emails/texts with friends encouraging and praying
• gardening

Gardening…I recently learned that I really love gardening.  I knew NOTHING about it. Yet, God has revealed a lot to me through this gardening process…and especially this morning when I was playing in my veggie garden.

When planting a garden…

1.  It’s important to do a little research and take time to prepare. Friends would say – just throw it in the ground and see what happens….you can always dig it up, transplant it, throw it away when it dies. If you know me well enough, you would know that I’m not that person. I’m more thoughtful…doing research (ad nauseam)… trying to figure out the best way to do it…asking questions.  Total fear of failure! Louis did research on the best way and size to build the raised beds. H learned what he needed to do before he got started.  Measured 10x before he cut.

• Living a Life of Mission –
  • Ask God questions like – where are you at work, God? how can I join you in what you are doing? what would you have me do in my community? where is my person of peace?
  • Ask your self questions seeking your motivation. We must first prepare ourselves… Someone once said… You must be a changed agent in order to be an agent of change.  Safety precautions are airplanes state to give yourself oxygen before you help someone else. We must first know who we are and whose we are before we can be sent out by God.
  • Ask the community questions like – If I brought coffee tomorrow, would you be interested in hanging out during soccer practice/ballet class/etc? What are your dreams for your children, community, family, life?  What keeps you up at night? Could you help me with….?

2.  I actually had put off planting a vegetable garden, because it was something new…and I didn’t know where to start! I didn’t want to screw it up. I was afraid. I had to take a risk and just do it. After doing a little research and asking a few friends questions, Louis built me 2 4×10 beds (yeah…that’s not starting small….).  We threw down some newspaper and some dirt, and planted a few seedlings from Lowe’s. Wasn’t going to even try starting from seeds!

• Living a Life of Mission –
  • Talk to some friends who are doing it. Ask questions. Watch them. Be willing to share your fear. You will learn they were afraid initially, too!
  • Start small. You don’t have to make it a big production….actually don’t make it big event. Work it into the everyday rhythms of your life…but yet it does require intentionality.  Pray for opportunities to be a blessing to someone because God gave you new eyes to see.

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  tomatoes, green beans, peppers (5/30)

  

  watermelon, cantaloupe, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumber (5/30)

3.  I got a late start at gardening.  Louis and I didn’t plant our garden until the end of May. Friends have been reaping their harvest for weeks. Mine is just coming in. I came close to giving up and just waiting until the fall or even next year. Louis encouraged me by building them anyway…as my birthday gift. It was indeed a labor of love, because carpentry doesn’t come naturally to him.  He’s a plumber, car mechanic, electrician….not a carpenter.

• Living a Life of Mission –
  • You aren’t meant to do this alone. In Luke 10:1, Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs….2×2 to prepare the way for Jesus to visit. Pray for the other half of your pair.
  • Call in reinforcements. I am grateful for my friends who join me in the journey.
  • It’s never too late to get started. Plant where you are. Plant where you go. Plant in good soil…where God is moving. It doesn’t matter when you start – just start.

my first tomato… we missed the harvest because we were out of town… 😦 It’s all about the timing…

4. Things go wrong.  Birds, deer, and bugs eat your potential bounty.  Bees don’t come to pollinate your flowers, so you have to change your approach.  Dogs dig up your plants… or in my case…eat my dirt. (Weird…I know…but Bella loves the rich, ‘meaty’ dirt!)  so you build a fence. Storms and hail  come and beat up your poor little plants. (I’m thankful that we planted late! The hail storm that came earlier wrecked some friends’ gardens.) And then…there’s the dreaded…ugly ‘dog vomit fungus’. Yes…true story…and it was GROSS!  It required tender, loving care..and removal of the fungus and adjusting the soaker hose.

• Living a Life of Mission –
  • The enemy…Satan…seeks to discourage, kill and destroy. Yes. It is true. Be prepared. Our God is ALL POWERFUL!
  • Timing is everything. Sometimes it’s just not the right time. God’s timing is always right on time.  Trust Him.
  • Turn to the Lord. Trust that the Lord of the Harvest raises up laborers…He draws them near.
  • Christian community is often the fence around your new seedlings. Build a fence of support and community to protect your upcoming fence. Sunday morning church service isn’t enough. It needs to be closer, more intimate discipleship…tending, sowing truth, etc.
    

    Fungus Among-us

The creative fence Louis built to keep Bella out. Sunflowers and strawberries (5/30)

5. It takes time.  Plants take time to grow…some grow faster than others. There were a few moments I just wanted to give up…and let the beds go to weed. Some start slow and then take off like crazy. Some are weaker than others..and aren’t producing anything at all…and are almost dead.  No 2 plants are the same.  2 days ago I had a cucumber that was about 5 inches long. Today…it was about 9 inches, and I am eating it!

• Living a Life of Mission –
  • Surround yourself with support and encouragement, too. You are not meant to be a lone ranger.
  • Tend to the garden…and to the gardener. Go to the Master Gardener who will tend to you.
  • Look for the little wins. Where God is at work.
  • Praise God in the difficult challenging times….and for the fruit of your labor!

Sunflowers…they attract the bees. (7/20)

Sunflowers and strawberries (7/20)

watermelon, cantaloupe, 2 zucchinis, yellow squash (died), and crazy dukes! (7/20)

tomatoes, green beans and peppers (7/20)

A few scriptures that often encourage me…

Galations 6:9      Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

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Living On Mission

Enjoying the first fruits of our labor