To Nurture a Garden

My grandfather was a plant person. 

My father is a plant person.

Somehow, I inherited the desire for green, but not the talent.

I've tried over the years to care for plants, but was always discouraged when yet another mini-rose or cactus died on me. Still, something in me wouldn't allow me to give up. Despite my lack of gardening knowledge, I knew that it was really about nurturing. 

And that is why I make the effort every year to learn a little more, spend the money on good dirt and fertilizer, and make a mess of myself outside. That is why I put the seeds in the soil and eagerly wait for the baby plants to poke through to greet me. That is why I take even the most pathetic-looking house plants and move them into the 'hospital' (my bathroom) for some TLC.

And that is also why I can't help but reach out to the random child on the playground who wants to try the monkey bars for the first time. I can't help but respond when I hear someone say, "I'd like to try art or music, but I don't think I can." I love singing songs with the children on Sundays and Wednesdays, I love homeschooling, I love encouraging an adult who is unsure (and aren't we all at times?) The students who struggle, the child who is lonely, couples who have been married for two months or forty years...  it's really about nurturing. 

Because, as in gardening, the growing is not because of anything I do. That's God's department. If God does not will the plant (or person) to grow, nothing I do will make a leaf sprout, or a tree blossom, or a tomato to appear. (That's what happened last year… many tomato flowers, but no fruit.) What I can do is provide the right environment, to make sure the plant has sun, water, and nutrients. I learn about each individual plant, and how they differ from the others. I remove things that can harm the plant. And sometimes, I have to prune.

This year, I found a surprise in my garden. Before the winter frost was barely over, a big green plant appeared. It was a potato plant, sprouting from some long-forgotten potato, eagerly making several new potatoes underground. This plant was soon followed by little pairs of leaves pushing through to the warm sun. Not one, but five to ten pumpkin seedlings decided to join us. And this was all as a result of last year's efforts… seeds that lie dormant until just the right time, and when they are ready, they surprise you.

And that is the real reason why I like gardening, and teaching, and encouraging: working with God and being pleasantly surprised by the results. One day, you too will be surprised to see what fruits grew with the effort you put in.