For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.(Isaiah 61:11)
Folks who have a green thumb have always impressed me. I have such warm memories of my grandmother Bivens who each summer had a bountiful vegetable garden. She would put the green beans and tomatoes into Mason jars to carry her through the winter months; and oh those pickles she made! Grandmother Lingerfelt amazed us at how she would take just a sliver of a plant and grow a beautiful new specimen. In my yard is a cutting of a cutting of a cutting from one of her hydrangea bushes. My husband has the gift of gardening as do both of my sisters; sadly, I do not. But I do like to think about it – preparing the soil, putting the seed or young plant into the hole that’s been dug and then carefully covering it with cool, rich dirt. I think of how he tends the garden and when the season comes, his joy of seeing the fruit of his labor and knowing that God has used his hands to bring new life. Wow!
As spring approaches, and I see farmers preparing their fields, I’ve been thinking a lot about the planting season. I’m reminded of another kind of gardening that those of us who belong to the Lord have been given to do. Planting this garden doesn’t require a green thumb, only willingness, commitment and obedience.
We’ve been given all the tools we need. We turn the rocky soil of a wounded heart with the tiller of compassion. The seeds are sown with words of kindness. We make way for the tender sprouts of new life by pulling the weeds of bitterness with acts of love and grace. We water with words of hope, prune with encouragement and keep away the insects that destroy the tender plants with our prayers. And when we’ve done all, the harvest comes and the Lord of the harvest is well pleased.
Just something you might want to consider.
And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to end out laborers into his harvest. (Luke 10:2)
Sandra Bivens Smith 
Thank you mom for sharing this beautiful message. As I’m meditating on the words you shared my thought is that the beauty isn’t that which is pleasing to the eye. All the work and the ugly stuff ( if you will ) is hidden beneath the ground. Were it not for the healthy roots there would be no beautiful flower, plant, etc. sometimes we think we should have the flower without doing what’s required to make sure the roots are healthy. My prayer for your readers and all those who belong to Christ is we tend our roots. Read and study the word of God so that we give nourishment to our souls and we will be pleasing to the eye-to all those around us but mostly to our Lord.
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Amy, thank you for sharing your insights, more great truths for us all to ponder. God is so good!
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