See How My Garden Doesn't Grow


I made the difficult decision to not have a garden this summer out back.

Too many battles with groundhogs who are joined in the battle array with a back-yard neighbor spraying weed-killer close to my garden, has caused me to lay down the hoe. It makes me sad. I like to see plants grow. It is very healing and make me feel connected to the land. I have learned from the inside-out much about Jesus's parables of sowing and reaping, wheat and tares, and the like through gardening. Experience is always the best teacher.

So for the first time in five years, no garden this summer. The land needs a Sabbath. I need a Sabbath. Despite my melancholy about the decision, I know it is the right one. Admitting that I could not have a joyful garden was enough for me to say enough. When the Apostle Paul writes that "God loves a cheerful giver" this saying does not only apply to money. It can be about anything that requires a sacrifice, a service. If we cannot do something with good cheer, we should at least step back and ask whether we should be doing it or not. It is possible that we are just being selfish, but it could also be God's way of reminding us that we need to take care of ourselves and know our limits. Let it rest.

In the meantime, we will buy our produce from local organic farmers this summer and be a blessing to their endeavors.    

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