How does your garden grow?

 
Being a good little Baptist church attendee, I've had a little green watering can on my windowsill to collect change for "Self-Denial" week. It's a sort of lent-type thing I guess, where the money saved by giving something up, is donated to missionary work. As I sit here emptying an entire bag of choc-coated pineapple lumps the notion of "self-denial" is slightly ironic but somehow there's something rattling about in that watering can.  Anyway, the idea of gardening has been going around a bit lately. I was asked to give a Kids' Talk on the theme which had some reference to Jesus' parable about the farmer who planted seeds in all kinds of random areas and the different results. I did make an attempt to stick with the plan but with me being me, I had to add a little "zzoosh".

Worms! Live worms. It just so happens that I'd been preparing and planting a veggie garden at R's house that week which had given me ample opportunity to go worm hunting. You might not have realised this, but worms are tricky little beggars. They're fast! It wasn't an easy task but I managed to catch a few in the end and it gave me enormous pleasure to hold them in my bare hands and parade them under the kids' noses. Their reaction was priceless.  One kid suggested that I eat them but being an animal lover I can assure everyone that no worms were harmed during the presentation and they were all released into the wild at the earliest opportunity.

Meanwhile, back at R's veggie patch (aka as my "allotment" which being in a different suburb is well out of reach of my chickens), seedlings had been planted and R has been watching them closely ever since. I'm not saying that she's impatient but I really think that asking if the carrots would be ready by dinner time on the same day was a bit hopeful, even for a Christian who expects miracles on a daily basis.

C and I preparing the garden. She's a little pea in a pod :)

Over the years I've learned to exercise a little patience with gardening but back in the day I would inspect my plot practically every hour for any signs of life. I wonder if that's what it feels like for God with us. It's taken me a long time to develop into what you see before you today, and I'm still nowhere near grown up.  Thankfully there have been plenty of helpers in the garden of my life - let's call them worms. I mean that in a really good way. Gardeners love worms. They work at the roots, helping to make the soil rich in nutrients. Maybe I could be a worm for Jesus. As for God, I think He must be the most patient Gardener of all time.