Tag: Master Gardener

One Minute Devotional – Devotions From My Garden: Growing

1 Comment

“He has made everything beautiful in its time”
(Ecclesiastes 3:11a ESV)

I’m a gardener who loves color, soil, blooms, and fullness, all without spending much money.  So, I’m an anti-annual gardener mostly, although I break down and buy some Gerbera daisies every year.  I can’t help myself!!

My modus operandi is usually to buy small, inexpensive perennials or bulbs that barely show up in my garden the first year.  Two years later, though, my $3 plant has now spread across the ground, covering every available space.  The coneflower I first planted several years ago grew over my head last summer.  The Black-Eyed Susans with the original circumference of my hand now span about 3 feet.

But it takes time.

Unfortunately, time is the one thing we don’t often give life—give God.  We want Him to renew us, restore us, change us, perfect us, and use us immediately, when we’re still tiny little plants who haven’t grown into maturity.

In her lessons in James: Mercy Triumphs, Beth Moore said, “We demand a holy SPRINT; He gives us the Holy Spirit.”

When the Israelites finally stepped foot into the promised land after 40 years of wandering, God told them from the beginning that conquering would take time.  He said, “The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you” (Deuteronomy 7:22).

If they had rushed God, they would have been destroyed and overrun.

In the same way, James writes:

Be patient, therefore, brothers,until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful (James 5:7-11).

Don’t rush the journey.  Don’t run ahead of God.  Be patient.  Establish your heart.  Remain steadfast.  We don’t always see the reason for the slow pace or the delays, but God is working for our protection and benefit because He is a “compassionate and merciful” Master Gardener.

More Devotions From My Garden:

Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer for www.myfrienddebbie.com and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2012 Heather King

Devotions from My Garden: Soil Samples

3 Comments

Last year, I decided to expand my back garden by about two feet.  This grand scheme seemed urgently necessary.  My daughters had been begging me to grow tomatoes and cucumbers so we could “eat our own food” and my garden was packed full already.

Besides that, my girls live on strawberries and I had, in a moment of frugal inspiration, decided that growing our own berries would be cheaper than paying someone else to grow them for me.

Within a year, those determined little strawberry plants muscled in like they owned the whole joint.  They spread into every corner and began popping up in random unclaimed territory.

We needed more room.

So, I bought some inexpensive garden fencing, pulled on my gardening shoes and rolled up my sleeves for the job ahead.  I figured I’d dig a little and then plant and mulch.  In about two hours I’d be kicking back with a lemonade and surveying the finished product.

It only took one shovel dug down into the dirt to realize this may have been a bad idea.  At the very least, it would take much more work than I planned in order to create my idyllic backyard Eden.

Apparently, only about the first half inch of earth was actual dirt.  After that it wasn’t so much soil as pebbles, clay, and yes, even broken up blocks of cement.

This was not good earth.

It took intense digging out of the old mess, which had me on Motrin for a week afterwards to combat the back, leg and arm pain.  Then I dumped in bags of topsoil, manure, and fertilizer and mixed it all around to form an “earth soup” of sorts.

That was all just prep work before I planted and mulched, fenced in the area, and then kicked back to enjoy a cup of hot tea before bed time since my morning job had turned into an all-day project.

The truth is sometimes we God has to get down and dirty in our lives, too, digging out the pebbles, clay, and even cement that hinder what He intends to grow.

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus reminded his disciples that there are different types of soil—people who are variably receptive to God’s Word.

The seed is scattered on:

  • Hard road with no growth: Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them
  • Shallow Soil: And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm. But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.
  • Weedy Ground: The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.
  • Good Earth: But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams (Mark 4:14-20, MSG).

This is a challenge to us as we share the Gospel with others.  Sometimes we are frustrated with a lack of growth and we keep shoving seeds into the soil.  We get pushy about it, edgy, and feel as if everything depends on us.

Yet, God patiently engages in intense soil preparation long before we see the first shoots of green push out of the earth.

This isn’t just about others, though. It’s also about the quality of the earth in our own lives.

The seed in the shallow soil and the weedy ground began to grow—a relationship with God had sprouted.  Yet when the initial emotional highs and excitement faded, the shallow-rooted plants didn’t last.  Then there’s the weedy ground where the sprouts of life were choked out by stress and busyness.

I’m content to live with weeds too much of the time, too “overwhelmed with worries about all the things I have to do” to stop and listen, receive, and act on the work God is doing.

So, He pulls out a shovel and starts digging out my mess of pebbles and cement.  He pours in fertilizer and rich dirt.  Then He yanks out the crabgrass and clover threatening to choke out life.

It’s like when you have all these plans and scheduled activities and your daughters get sick one . . . after . . . . the . . . . other, staking a claim to the couch and a bucket.

Instead of rushing here and there, I’ve pulled my most comfortable sweatshirt over my head and my favorite white socks on my feet.  I’ve brushed my hair back into a loose ponytail.

I’m prepping soup for the Crock Pot and bread for hot ham and cheese for the perfect dinner on a cool, gray and rainy day.

I’m cleaning up messes and  destroying germs with Lysol and Clorox.

And I’ve settled down at the kitchen table ready to sit with God for a while.  He’s been pulling weeds out of my life this week.  That means changing my plans and interrupting my schedule.

It also means, He’s trying to make something beautiful grow.

What’s He doing in your life?

Is He reminding you not to give up on others and what appears to be the hardened soil of their heart?

Is He asking you to dig your roots deeper in the ground so that you won’t topple over at the slightest wind or dry spell?

Is He yanking out some weeds that have been choking out His work in your heart?

It’s time to let the Master Gardener work unhindered so that we can become good earth and “produce a harvest beyond (our) wildest dreams.”

Here’s What I’m Making For Dinner:

More Devotions From My Garden:

Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer for www.myfrienddebbie.com and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2012 Heather King

Devotions from My Garden: Breaking Ground

1 Comment

It is an annual ritual in my house.

The first time I push aside the leaves and mulch in our garden and discover tiny green shoots in the earth, I call for each of my kids.  We stand around in awe and anticipation, just spending a few moments looking down at our first sign of spring.  It feels so wonderful, so hopeful, to see physical evidence that the coldness and deadness of winter will be ending soon.

So far, my youngest daughter is the only one I haven’t yet put to work in the garden. Although, even she was beginning to carry weeds to the wheelbarrow and dig into the soil last year.

When my baby girl sees these little green leaves, it may seem almost like magic.  The rest of us, though, know that before we can enjoy the fanfare of brightly colored spring tulips and daffodils, we had to plow up the earth, plant the bulbs, weed, and protect them from weather that is too harsh.

Our efforts didn’t produce much at first.  These bulbs didn’t grow all fall and into the winter.  We’ve endured a full season of drab brown and gray.  It’s only now, months after their original planting, that we see evidence of growth and life.

As Christians, it’s easy to forget that in order to grow and produce life, we have to let God work in our hearts.  It’s sometimes painful and we don’t always see the purpose of this work right away, but our fruitfulness depends on it.

Last year, I felt God turning over the soil of my heart, sifting out the deep-rooted sins that have to be removed before I can produce fruit.

From the surface, I may have looked like good soil before this.  Sometimes it’s the sins that we can easily hide from others that are the hardest to dig out.  Yet, He knew about those hidden sins that I manage to keep so private—sins like pride and jealousy, and He’s been digging them out with firmness and yet with so much grace.

We may think we’ve given over all of our lives to God.  We may see some fruit and think that it’s enough.  Yet, God will always ask us to draw closer to Him, to give more of our lives, to break up unplowed ground and allow Him to work in the areas we’ve previously kept from His hand.

Sometimes in real life, I’m tempted to just dump a whole bunch of mulch on top of the weeds, hoping they suffocate under the load.  It’s that way in my heart, too.  It seems easier somehow to just dump a righteous façade on top of my bad attitudes, lack of trust, and other heart problems and hope that those sins remain hidden.

Any good gardener, however, will tell you that the only way to get rid of weeds is to completely remove them, roots and all.  It’s work—hard work—but it is what needs to be done to ensure the quality of the soil and to produce the best harvest.

In Hosea 10:2, it says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until He comes and showers righteousness on you” (NIV).

If God has been urging you to “break up your unplowed ground,” allow Him to work.  It might hurt as He uses circumstances and other people to break up the hard rocky places in your heart.

Yet, when He has uprooted the weeds of sin in your life and turned over soil, unsettling your ground and disturbing your status quo, “sow for yourselves righteousness . . . and seek the Lord.”  Protect your heart from those same sins taking root again by filling up that dirt with His Word and with time spent in His presence.

He is a Master Gardener.  He doesn’t just plant without tending.  Instead, He “comes and showers righteousness on you” so that you can “reap the fruit of unfailing love.”

Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer for www.myfrienddebbie.com and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.

Copyright © 2012 Heather King