HELEN SANDERS
6-13-2020
MY FIRST GARDEN
Have you ever had a garden? I remember the year I planted a large garden. I was living in the country in So. Alabama. I had never had a garden before, but our neighbor plowed up an acre of land and my husband was the “expert”. He planted everything so carefully, and we expected to get a lot of mouthwatering fruit and vegetables.
There was okra, cucumbers, peas, butter beans, corn, watermelon, tomatoes, and much more. I found out it was not as easy as the pictures look. First off, deer came and ate a lot of the seeds before they had a chance to grow. Then there was the weed problem. There were just as many weeds coming up as there were seeds coming up. Then the rain came, and things were growing great. The problem was it didn’t stop raining, and the ground became thick with mud. You couldn’t walk without getting stuck, and we couldn’t get to the okra. They grew to be 18 inches long and looked like swords.
We had so many butter beans and peas that we couldn’t harvest them all and living in the country everyone else had a garden and didn’t want any extras. Then came the shelling of these “beautiful” peas and beans. I had never shelled anything before and learned quite quickly how sore your fingers could get. After shelling for two hours there was only enough shelled for one meal. I immediately thought how much easier it was to buy it in the frozen food section at the local grocery store.
The ground where the corn grew had been sprayed with insecticide years earlier, and the corn was all malformed. I wasn’t sure if it was even edible. We never got cucumbers or watermelons because the blooms mildewed and died before they had a chance to grow. It was quite an experience, and it was the last garden that I planted.
I learned a lot from that garden. I learned you can plant into people’s lives the same way. Some receive the words as seeds and grow, and some reject the seed and it dies before it produces. I also learned about my life, that I needed to keep the weeds out such as anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred and put in things like love, joy, peace, patience, and forgiveness.
Jesus taught the common everyday people that were farmers and fishermen, and his stories helped them relate to real life. Perhaps I should have tried another garden and not have given up.
We are like that in life too. We fail and quit when we really should have just learned a lesson and did it better the next time. I pray that your lives are fruitful gardens ready to receive good seed and grow into something beautiful. Don’t quit if you had a failed crop. God will help you until it produces something lasting! Be blessed!
