Imagine walking down the road and lining the fence next to you are marvelously enticing fruit trees of every kind: apple, pear, pomegranate, fig, peach, plum, lemon, mango, orange (I could keep listing but you might get bored). These trees are big, full, and heavy laden with their sweet offerings. So you decide to turn down the driveway to see more and you notice that what you couldn't see from outside is that under the large fruit trees by the fence there are also bushes (blueberry, blackberry, strawberry) likewise possessing copious amounts of their wares. You also find that the drive is lined by trellises overgrown by grapes so big and juicy you wonder how they are hanging on to the vine. Back behind the house (just outside the kitchen door) is the garden containing every aromatic herb you could imagine, in carefully sectioned plots. At the end of the herbs you reach the vegetable (and other planted fruits) garden with lettuces, green beans, watermelon, cucumber, squashes, zucchini and onions, etc. Plus throughout the yard are scattered almond and pecan trees already covering the ground in their tasty nuts.
Well, my dream might need some work, but that's the gist of it. This week I started my first ever trial run for my dream garden - I bought a Meyer lemon tree, a pomegranate tree and I planted some watermelon seeds. I'm excited to see if my thumb is green like my dad's or brown like my mom's. Though to be fair to my mom she also recently purchased a few lemon trees, so we'll see how those turn out too.
To coincide with the theme of gardening I thought I would share the parable of the sower:
"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell upon good soil, where it produced a crop - a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown."
Matthew 13:4-8, 18-23
We are the harvesters of plants, but God is the harvester of man. May he find the fruits of our lives a favorable offering for His kingdom.
Photos of the Day:
On an exercise note, I recently started running someone's dog (Indy) so my frequency and pace is beginning to pick up, plus my motivation for getting out of bed! My best time, which was Monday, is 34:50 for 3 miles. I'm hoping that as I continue running- three miles gets easier and easier and eventually I can pick up the miles and the pace, but for now I'm comfortable with what Indy drags out of me.
