Spring has sprung and it’s planting season…ready, set, grow! It’s the one time of the year where we run “to” the dirt and not “from” the dirt, and Home Depot wins out over Home Goods!
At our house, we get a little crazy with planting…like the one time the hubby made a run to the nursery down the street after I asked him to find a “good sized ornamental shrub” to fill up the urns we had just added to the back patio. He brought them home, and he worked so hard to put them in the urns, packing soil tightly around the roots. He was so proud of what he found…a very tall, bold, plant with thick, large leaves. He just knew it would be perfect!
I came home and walked around the corner with him to take a look at these great new additions to the patio.
“Umm honey, those aren’t shrubs…those are magnolia…trees!” I explained.
This time of the year the soil of our gardens is perfect. The winter freeze is long gone. The dirt is willing to be moved and shifted and changed. Its rain-moistened softness allows weeds to be removed with a gentle tug. It anxiously awaits our planting…looking on eagerly, to see what colors and scents and textures it will share this season with, happily ready to give them its nutrients and excited about watching them grow. It truly loves and craves the water we pour over it, soaking it all in quickly and fully as to not let any of it run off the sides and be wasted.
During this planting season, meditate on these ideas while you enjoy gardening:
Is the soil of your heart soft and willing to move and shift so that God can plant a seed or better yet, a beautiful flower in your life? Are you letting go of the past season and embracing the change that comes with this new one, even though you don’t know for sure what it might bring?
Romans 12:2. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God…”
Is the soil of your heart getting the daily spiritual nourishment that it needs? Are you keeping it cool and refreshed using water from His well? Even a few days without water will cause the most beautiful of flowers to wilt. Our spiritual lives are parallel to life in a garden; when we are spiritually nourished, we flourish.
John 15:4-5 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Are the seeds that you’ve planted in the soil of your heart getting full or part “Son”? Do you need a repositioning of yourself with your work, with the friends with whom you associate, or with the places where you spend your time? If life doesn’t seem to be flowing smoothly, is it possible that there needs to be a rearranging of things in order to move the obstacles that are blocking His light.
Isaiah 26:3-4 “He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in Him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord! Trust in the Lord always, for in the Lord, Jehovah, is your everlasting strength.”
Once the flowers have been planted and they’ve begun to take root and grow, have you spent quiet, meditative, and reflective time in this garden?
Those quiet moments, walking through lush grass, hearing the rustling of spring trees, enjoying the song of birds… those are glimpses of heaven, ladies. Listen for God’s voice in the beauty of this magnificent season.
Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.”
Happy planting…happy spring!
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Just wanted I needed during a time of major life changes. Thanks!