During this past spring, I planted a garden.

My husband prepared the soil for me, and I planted the seeds.

Then I waited as the spring season became a wet season.   Rain and rain and rain and rain and rain and well, you know, more rain fell from the sky.

Nothing came up.

I thought my planted seeds had drowned.  So, I replanted.  The tiny seeds took root, and soon I had tiny plants growing in my garden.  I traveled to the local feed store and purchased some fertilizer to side-dress my garden rows.  It was not long before my garden was growing and maturing, including the weeds, so I tilled the middle of each row and hoed up around my plants to make them strong.

Then, I left the country for two weeks to visit in Europe, while my garden continued to grow.  AND…DID IT GROW!!!!

I do believe EVERY seed (even the ones I thought had drowned) came up while I was gone.  
My rows were bursting with more plants than ever & not only that, but every single plant was loaded full and ready for harvest when I returned home.

Since returning, we have enjoyed okra, peppers, tomatoes, and green beans.  If I dried some sunflower seed, we could enjoy that harvest as well.

Not only that, but some rogue weeds also had to be eradicated from my garden.

Today, as have many written before me, my garden reminds me of God’s Salvation.

When I was a child, like most children, working was NOT my favorite pastime, but it was a necessity in my family.  So, we (all 5 children, dad, & mom) worked…..in the fields, on the farm, and in our garden.

• Tilling the soil—rested upon dad’s shoulders.
• Laying off the rows—dad’s work.
• Dropping the seed precisely in each row—our work (but we were expected to plant the seed just as my dad instructed).  Drop one seed of corn and a few inches more, drop the next seed, then a few inches forward, drop the next seed….(get the picture).
• Then came the fertilizer—dad’s work, as he placed the fertilizer precisely positioned between where we had just placed the separated seeds.
• After that came the covering of the rows—dad’s work (not too shallow & not too deep).
• Next came the gentle side-by-side stomping of the seed into the row—our work and dad’s (not too hard, but gently).
• AND THEN WE WAITED—for the kids, that meant days and days and days of play (we hoped), and for dad, that meant other work that needed to be accomplished around the farm. Oftentimes, that involved us, but that was okay too because we ALWAYS worked TOGETHER (with dad and mom) on the farm.
• In our vegetable garden, once the plants poked their tiny stems through the ground, dad made the decision whether replanting was necessary (where plants might be missing in the rows).
• Then came the hoeing and weeding—our work together. To this day, I don’t know how dad had so many hoes, one for each of us.
• In time, the harvest came. We were ready to gather, to harvest, and to eat the vegetables that our garden produced. 
• Along with the gathering and the eating came the canning of the additional produce. Mom would can the jars and jars of produce that we gathered from the garden (we each helped with the shucking and carrying and breaking, with the preparation to can). Finally, mom would have us carry the jars to grandma’s house, where we placed them on the shelves way down inside grandma’s cellar.

Never……Did I wonder IF we would garden.
NO…….Gardening as a family was just something we did, and we gardened together, as a family, instructed by our dad, with each person doing his part, as dad led him to do.

Christianity is much like gardening.

• God prepares the soil.
• God prepares the hearts of those who do not know Him.
• God sent Jesus, His Son for our salvation.
• God provided the only way to be saved, to come to know Him as LORD. 
• Our part—scattering God’s seed (sharing our testimony & loving others as Jesus taught us to love). That is our part, the work God gives us (His children) to do in His kingdom work.
• Then God’s Holy Spirit speaks to the one who is lost, bringing conviction of sins.
• The covering, the stirring of one’s heart belongs to God. &
• And then comes the waiting.  We can play, forgetting others and selfishly be caught up in our days of play, or we can continue to love and do for others as Jesus taught, as we closely watch the Father’s garden, expectantly watching for God’s seed to take root and begin to grow.
• God sends the sunshine and the rain.
• God gives us others to love, providing opportunities to cultivate as we share His Scripture, gently cultivating their hearts.
• Then comes the harvest.  &
• God’s got this!!! We are then given the monumental task of standing there in amazement as God’s harvest comes!!!

Whenever I was a child, dad sent me to a specific row in the garden to collect the vegetables. That was a day of enjoyment because we knew we would enjoy fresh vegetables for dinner.  As Christians, God sends us to gather.  God allows us to taste of His bounty, to enjoy the sweet taste of watching others come to know His sweet salvation, and then to walk along beside His new believers as they begin to grow stronger in their faith, learning to rely upon Him.

I wonder today……What are we sowing?

What seeds are we scattering? Are we haphazardly going through our days, stomping what seed may fall from our hands, not caring if we come back at the end of the day with God’s seed still in our hands? Do we even desire to gently scatter God’s seed on the ground God has prepared?

The devil delights in keeping us so busy, way too busy, so that we think we have no time left to serve God.  The devil loves a good day of strife, of harsh words, of turmoil, of stress beyond measure, and negativity.  The devil cannot steal our salvation, our place within God’s kingdom, so the devil will attempt to steal everything else…..our witness, our testimony, our words, our love for others, our time, our relationships, and our joy.
God wants so much more!!!!
God wants us to reap a life filled with—

***A godly witness, with opportunities to share our testimony;
***Friendships and relationships, with opportunities to share our lives with others;
***Time to love, within a balanced life of work and play, as we worship our Father;  &
***Joy immeasurable!!!!

Gardening reminds us of the Bible passage in Corinthians where Paul was led to write, “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6).

What are we sowing? & What are we doing within this one day the LORD has provided for us?

• Are we out in the Son-shine, enjoying our work within God’s garden?
• Are we working in the place where our Father has placed us?
• Are we sowing seeds in the lives of others?
• Are we walking alongside those rows, looking for the devil’s weeds of doubt that he loves to scatter?
• Are we lovingly tending the rows the Father has given to us to work?
• Are we expectantly watching for God’s harvest?
• Once the harvest comes, are we walking alongside others (new believers), enjoying God’s harvest as we invest into the lives of others?

Today, may we pause and look at the Father’s garden.  May we pray, asking God to place us where He would have us work.  & May we watch for God’s harvest, expectantly, knowing with assurance that His harvest will come.

When the harvest of God does come, may we rejoice and praise God for His harvest.
In fact, may we pause and praise God today (and every day we arise) for even allowing us a place to serve and work within His garden.

Thank You God for Salvation. 
Thank You God for giving us opportunities to work alongside other believers within Your garden of life.

Thank You God for allowing us to rejoice as we see Your Harvest.