I have always loved gardens. My first memory of a garden of any kind was out at my Grandma's. I remember going out and picking strawberries and picking and helping shell peas. I still love the taste of fresh-picked, straight from the garden peas to this day.
Growing up we attempted gardens once or twice but they never did really well, and I was probably not as invested in them as I should have been. As an adult though, I have learned to love to garden.
There's something so peaceful to me about being outside among nature, doing the monotonous routine care of the garden and just letting my mind wander. I find that it's often during these times that God uses my garden to teach me things.
Most recently, I was out at my in-laws picking blueberries. I was out there with O and as I often do, letting my mind wander. O had been picking berries from a particular spot and asked if we could trade spots since a fly had been bothering her where she was. I told her it was no problem and we switched places. As I went back to picking berries, I noticed so many ripe berries close to where I had been standing, but because of the way the branches had been I hadn't seen them even though they were closer to me then than they currently were.
In that moment I had a thought. I thought about how Paul says in Corinthians "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." (1 Corinthians 3:6) and how people are like fruit. I thought about how often times, I might look at a person, or group of people and might not see any hope or any potential for ministry or sharing with them, but then God will shift my perspective and suddenly, I will see what He sees and opportunities appear. I thought about how, like with the blueberry clusters, some of the people I come upon will be ripe and ready to be picked. They'll be ready to hear what I have to say. Others will still be green and need more time and it might be me who comes back and continues to share with them when they're ready or it might be someone else entirely. And lastly, I thought of how much I love blueberries. About how unwilling I am to walk away from the bushes when even a single ripe berry might still be there. And I wondered: what would life be like if this was how I ministered? What if people were as precious to me as blueberries and I was unwilling to walk away if there was even just one person left that I might be able to reach? It was certainly an interesting and sobering thought.
What are some everyday places God uses to teach you lessons?
Growing up we attempted gardens once or twice but they never did really well, and I was probably not as invested in them as I should have been. As an adult though, I have learned to love to garden.
There's something so peaceful to me about being outside among nature, doing the monotonous routine care of the garden and just letting my mind wander. I find that it's often during these times that God uses my garden to teach me things.
Most recently, I was out at my in-laws picking blueberries. I was out there with O and as I often do, letting my mind wander. O had been picking berries from a particular spot and asked if we could trade spots since a fly had been bothering her where she was. I told her it was no problem and we switched places. As I went back to picking berries, I noticed so many ripe berries close to where I had been standing, but because of the way the branches had been I hadn't seen them even though they were closer to me then than they currently were.
In that moment I had a thought. I thought about how Paul says in Corinthians "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." (1 Corinthians 3:6) and how people are like fruit. I thought about how often times, I might look at a person, or group of people and might not see any hope or any potential for ministry or sharing with them, but then God will shift my perspective and suddenly, I will see what He sees and opportunities appear. I thought about how, like with the blueberry clusters, some of the people I come upon will be ripe and ready to be picked. They'll be ready to hear what I have to say. Others will still be green and need more time and it might be me who comes back and continues to share with them when they're ready or it might be someone else entirely. And lastly, I thought of how much I love blueberries. About how unwilling I am to walk away from the bushes when even a single ripe berry might still be there. And I wondered: what would life be like if this was how I ministered? What if people were as precious to me as blueberries and I was unwilling to walk away if there was even just one person left that I might be able to reach? It was certainly an interesting and sobering thought.
What are some everyday places God uses to teach you lessons?
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