Skip to main content

The Perfect Gardener

 These last few days were spent swimming in the lake and being outside with my family for hours.

Today, our little lady and I dried off while picking raspberries (over a gallon-worth), sugar snow peas and pulling weeds from what I'm now calling Papa's farm.

My little one got frustrated with me recently for calling her "my little farm girl," for reasons I couldn't quite understand then. Today, I was able to expand her idea of being a farmer, with this question, "Did you know Papa is a really good farmer?" She was intrigued, so I continued, "a farmer is anyone who works hard to take care of the land, grow food and care for the earth." She asked, "really?" I assured her and then asked, "would it be okay if I call you my little farm girl again some time?" and she said yes. I think she's getting it. 

Over the long weekend, God's spirit brought me so much peace, healing and laughter; strengthened our kids in their swimming skills, and a new perspective of the relationship available to us all with our Creator.

The illustration God painted in my mind while I picked and worked in the garden was this:

The best gardener is thoughtful, intentional, careful. They provide strong structure and sufficient support, to both help the plant grow as they know it will and give it plenty of room to grow wild. In these parameters, the plant will do what it does best under good care: bear fruit, vegetables and all kinds of good things. 

The best gardener knows exactly what each plant needs and provides those things with love and consistency to the best of their abilities.

The best gardener also does not expect the plant to stay within bounds, be anything other than what it is or make it apologize for how it responds to the measure of love, care, structure, support, water, soil, sun, heat and the exact nutrients that plant individually needs (or the lack thereof). 

The best gardener does all they can to help the plant thrive AND embraces that some of gardening is just sitting back and seeing how things go and grow.

That's both the kind of gardener I want to be AND the kind of garden I want to be in. 

How about you?

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Year in Review for 2022

  Highlights: Zachy’s expressive speech, independent skills, self-regulation, and swimming skills grew so much last year! Music therapy and swimming lessons were happily parts of his weekly routines. Sophia lost several teeth (now up to 7) and excitedly got lots of visits from the tooth fairy. She’s grown so much in her confidence and skills in the water through swimming lessons and in her use of speaking (and listening to) Spanish at home. It’s been fun for her and Kate to share that. Kate got a new job at UnitedHealth Care that is an answer to many prayers, a great fit and provides many blessings and benefits to her and our family. She discovered and has greatly enjoyed bullet journaling, writing poetry, creating various artistic pieces, and participating with a small group of women reading the book The Artist’s Rule. She’s learning about the monastic and artist’s way of lift and various contemplative practices that have been enriching, healing, surprising and helpful. Louie is e...
Post a Comment
Read more

Carry Me

Today I got to carry you on a walk, in which you usually set a pretty fast pace without many rests along the way But today, you needed me you reached up with open arms and without any words I knew So, I picked you up and felt the beauty of your weight in my arms and the heat from our exercise emanating forth you snuggled your sweaty head nuzzled into my neck and whispered "mucky" I said "I love you too, mucky" And I carried you in silence in beauty with gratitude and you grounded me to this moment right now as your strong mama in whose arms you find so many things My son, in whose heart I see the joy of the Lord in whose eyes, I see my own in whose heart, I sense such an amazing knowing that I cannot articulate, because I don't fully understand it yet, myself Today, I helped you take a load off your feet and your growing legs and rest your tired body. You helped my heart soar and my soul know the peace of God in such an i...
1 comment
Read more

Zach's 8th Birthday

Reflections of a mama to a wonderful boy, who has a rare genetic syndrome, near his birthday. Every year, I forget that Zach’s birthday isn’t only celebratory for me. It can also be a trigger for parts of grief of the things that are not yet and may never be. It’s a remembrance of both the gift of the sweet season where we had no idea that he was different from any other kid and the gift of finding out that, in fact, he is quite different. In big and small ways, our little joy-bringer has brought so much to our lives and to those around him. His joy is contagious, his energy seemingly endless, his passion fierce, his love of music infectious, his warmth and friendliness welcoming. And he also needs a lot of support, interpretation, advocacy, patience, understanding, brainstorming with teachers, redirecting and so on.  As I’ve learned many times before, Joy and Grief often accompany each other; the two are not mutually exclusive. But that can make it hard for me to identify wh...
Post a Comment
Read more