There is a new flower bed in my front yard. Thanks to my husband’s labor of love, and my hard work too, there are dahlia tubers planted in that bed. I now feel muscles I was not previously aware that I had.
I love fresh flowers. Last summer, every time we went to my in-laws’ home, there were gorgeous, healthy, fresh dahlias in vases. I gained significant respect for my father in law and his green thumb. I’ve wondered all winter, “Am I capable of growing my own dahlias – do I have a green thumb?” And now this week it was time. I had to decide : Plant now or wait another year for my own vases of fresh flowers.
My sweet husband, knowing my love for fresh flowers, used one of the mornings during his week of vacation to help me with the bed – I never, repeat never, could have done this by myself. The soil needed significant work, the weeds and grass had to be pulled. I was not strong enough to turn the ground alone- it was so hard and dry. Did I mention we did not use a tiller? (gardening lesson # 1… tillers are our friends.)
As I helped to excavate with my shovel and ho, preparing the ground, I was reminded of a parable in the Bible – the one about the farmer, planting the seeds. I couldn’t help but remember the story. The story describes different types of ground and compares the soil to people’s hearts. There is the hard heart, the shallow heart, the heart grown over with thorns and full of stones, and there is the heart that is freshly turned, ready to receive God’s word.
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Hearing this story as a child I just assumed that my heart was the tilled up one, open to God’s word. I never even considered that I might have one of the other kinds of hearts. But, as I was digging in the ground with my new gloves on, I realized the truth. At one time or another my heart has been hard or grown over with weeds, probably just as often as it has been soft like freshly tilled soil, ready for planting.
I know that even while the soil in my new flower bed is prepared well to grow dahlias now, it will not be enough to grow flowers in the coming years. The seasons will change and the weather will not have respect for my garden; the soil will go through hot and cold temperatures, rain and snow, possibly lack of rain – and the dirt as I know it now will cease to exist. It will become hard and dry. Next spring I will be required to work the ground and prepare once again, if I wish to grow anything.
So it is with my heart’s garden. The seasons of life bring trials, difficulties, changes and my heart can become stiff and hardened to the things of God. But He is a gentle gardener. He continues to work at growing the fruit of his spirit in my heart, pulling out thick patches of deep rooted sins, tilling up the soil of my heart until it is ready to receive His word, His guidance, His love.
As I watch my garden for little sprouts of green, hopeful for a few brightly blossoming dahlias, I am watching for signs of life in my heart, too. Winter seems to have passed. I believe he has planted seeds of love, joy, patience, kindness, maybe even some self-control. Perhaps this spring there will be a few buds that will bloom into beautiful fruit in my heart.
It remains to be seen if I have a green thumb. But, there is no question : our Heavenly Father who continues the gardening of my heart season after season has a supremely green thumb. Praise God that He is able to grow the most beautiful fruit of all!
md
(originally written april 12, 2010)
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