I've had a rough time with my garden this year. I decided to make it bigger than last year and Matt arranged for someone to till it for me. The man who did it said he couldn't do the whole area due to the amount of rocks. That didn't stop me. I planted snap peas, cucumbers, watermelon, peppers, kale, onions, celery, and squash in the area that was completely tilled. Then Matt helped me dig up an area for potatoes. I didn't want to stop with that, so I carefully cleared an area for pumpkins with the idea that each day I'd clear further out around each plant. Then I got pneumonia. I was sick for almost the entire month of June. I'd sneak out to the garden to hand till around my pumpkins, but I'd get coughing and feel so weak I'd have to come in. (Or Brianna would find me, threaten to tell Matt I wasn't resting, and drag me in!)
By the time July came around and I was feeling better, my garden was a huge mess. It looked like I had planted things in the middle of someone's front lawn that hadn't been mowed. I was so overwhelmed. Little by little I'd work on things. But it seemed like a drop in the bucket. As soon as I could see my onions, I worked on the squash. Once things were cleared around the squash, my onions were once again blending in with the weeds around it. And that's how it went with everything.
Over the last few days I decided to devote time to the potatoes. I wasn't sure the condition of them since there were so many weeds growing all around them. I got down on my hands and knees and started working. Here is what I realized:
1. They were very dried out
2. They were overrun by weeds
As I worked, the Lord began to teach me some things.
First, I had a good excuse for neglecting them- but even the best excuses don't negate the consequences.
Second, I had been watering them, but stopping as soon as the soil looked wet. However, since I hadn't saturated them, the soil underneath was as dry as a bone!
Third, the weeds steal the nutrients from the plants so the plants aren't getting all the benefit of the water and sun.
I thought about my own kids and also about HFK kids. My first priority is my own children, so here is the application.
- I have to be careful about using excuses and not thinking about consequences. When I am tired, I sometimes let Micah get away with saying "why?" to me when I tell him to do something he doesn't want to do. Exhaustion may be a good excuse, but there will still be consequences since I am teaching him that he can question me and have a bad attitude instead of obeying right away. If I am too busy to teach one of them how to make their bed neatly, they will not learn how to pay attention to detail and do a job well. Sometimes there are things I have no control over- but for the other times, I need to be careful before I use an excuse as a way of getting out of doing something I should do.
- My plants needed to be saturated with water. Their lack of water had caused them to either NOT grow tall, or grow tall but be so weak they fell over. I feel like water represents God's Word. So many kids, when they grow up walk away from God. "Christian" kids who have grown up in the church and youth group. I think probably they weren't SATURATED with God's Word. They were sprinkled with it. The soil looked wet, but underneath it was dry. The roots weren't soaking it up so the plant was weak and couldn't produce the fruit it was intended to. I need to consciously make sure my kids are being saturated with the Word. Reading, meditating, looking there for answers, living it.
-The weeds. The thing that seems the most overwhelming. GET RID OF THE WEEDS. They rob, kill, destroy. Get rid of them while they are small in size and number. I have to LOOK for them. Recognize them. Some weeds are very pretty! I have the prettiest weeds that were growing around my potatoes! They have delicate pink flowers and grow low to the ground. When I pulled them up I realized they were a vine that had grown all around the base of the potatoes. When I pulled them, I had to be careful because they would pull up the potato plant too if I wasn't careful. I need to think hard, pray hard, and be observant- Are weeds creeping in?
I have so much to learn. I want to put into practice what God is teaching me. I want my "plants" to grow and produce to their full potential and not be stunted because of my lack of attention. I can't do it alone- but by God's grace and with His strength I can!
As for my potatoes....I am taking care of them now. Watering, weeding, hilling. And yes, even praying! I'm a Little House on the Prairie girl at heart. I keep telling Leah and Micah (who always spend time in the garden with me), "This is our food for the winter! We need to take good care of these!" God can do miracles :)
