Sunday, May 16, 2010

2010 Garden Musings

Along with completely redoing the inside of our house, we are also redoing the outside. It's been sort of a mess for a while now.

And speaking of being sort of a mess for a while … I think all the renovating we're doing on our home is simply a reflection of what is going on INSIDE of me. Since we have lived here I have been going through a lot … starting with a miscarriage (we moved her in the midst of it), then a rough pregnancy, but great delivery of a healthy and wonderful, but very demanding little girl (but oh, does she bring me joy!!). After that there was some personal and relationship junk & experiences that just left me dry spiritually and emotionally. And as my soul sat fallow so did my home.

dead

But I feel like I am waking up as I am seeking the Lord with my whole heart … I am breaking up this fallow ground and through this process I am coming alive again.

Speaking of coming alive again … I finally (FINALLY) planted my veggie garden for this year. It is MUCH smaller than last year's garden. Last year I went a little crazy and decided that I would plant enough stuff to can for the coming winter. Little did I know that I had actually planted too little, even though I planted a lot! So I never had enough of anything at one time to can and we got tired of having zucchini at every meal along with zucchini bread, zucchini muffins, etc. Confession time! I got so overwhelmed by the garden that I just let it become overgrown. There. I said it. All 3 of you who think that I am Caroline Ingalls can collectively gasp now! ;-)

Seriously, though, I think it's a picture of my heart's condition. I got overwhelmed and just gave up rather than plowing through it, doing what it took to make it what it needed to be. I wasn't even going to plant a garden this year. Caroline Ingalls here was not going to do it this year. I had given up on the gardening thing. Much as I had given up and allowed my soul to become neglected and impoverished.

Back to the garden … this year I thought it was wise to scale back. A lot. So I just have 3 better boys, 3 romas, 3 jalapenos, 2 zucchini and some basil, oregano, thyme, and cilantro. Just a little 8' x 14' plot. And nothing fancy. Just a mound of dirt with some plants. And it just may soon be the burial ground for my dog if I find another broken plant like I did this afternoon!

tomato

I also have fruit! Yes … strawberries and blueberries! OK … another confession time. That overwhelmedness at my garden last year also pertained to my strawberries. So I sat their pots on the side of the yard (where my old/new plot is) and left them there to … die. Yes. I know. But guess what?? They didn't die!! In fact … they are thriving! We picked enough to fill a large bowl the other day:

strawberries1
strawberries6

And my blueberries? Well, the only bad thing I did with them last year was that I didn't cover them with a bird net and so birds ate every.last.one. I won't make that mistake this year! I need to go get one this week as a matter of fact … check them out:

blueberries1

So lovely!

What a joy it is was to look over one day and see the wonderful, red, juicy strawberries growing! And after I had just left them to die! It's such a great metaphor for my heart's condition and for the Father's love for us. I just left my heart to die. Truly that is what I did. But God, in His graciousness and faithfulness has seen to it that I come back to life! Oh how He loves us!

I am looking forward to a fruitful summer!

2 comments:

  1. Just so you know, "Caroline", your scaled back garden is bigger than mine ;-)... Seriously, though, I just want to tell you again how much I appreciate the honesty and boldness in what you have been sharing about what God is doing in your life...

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  2. I know … scaled back … I told someone else it was "only" 8x14 and they laughed at the only part!

    Thank you, Wendy! Writing about it on this blog helps me to organize my thoughts and gain more insight into what the Lord is doing. Thank so much for reading! Love, Caroline ;)

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