We Love Watching Things Grow

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I've always be intrigued with the idea of have a garden. Growing something. Watching it mature. Harvesting the produce. Enjoying the fruits of my labors. But it's more than just the end product. Yes, the goal is to produce something of benefit. In a flower garden, flowers to cut and enjoy. In a vegetable garden, fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, or zucchini to eat. Most of us start a garden to grow what we love. But I think it's more that just the flowers and the vegetables. There's a process, a discipline if you will, of taking something from a simple seed and bringing it to a mature productive plant. 

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I started my first garden in 1997. We had moved from our 2 bedroom apartment to our first home. It didn't have much of a yard, something around 150 square feet, maybe. There was a small strip of grass and a pathway to the rear gate. There was a large, mature tree in the corner, and small flower beds along the party wall fence we shared with our neighbors. The flower bed contained a few shrubs and flowers, planted by the previous owners. That first year I started with something simple, tomatoes and cucumbers, if I remember correctly. It wasn't much. I don't even remember if we harvested anything. But I tried.

It might not have been a very successful garden. It might not have been big enough to all it a garden. But it was an opportunity to try something new. And I always leaned towards a "country/farming" way of life. Growing up in Philadelphia, we spent many of our summers in Lancaster county. My parents had an RV, so we did a lot of camping. Lancaster became a home away from home.

Of course when we first started visiting, the area was abundant with farms. The Amish and the Mennonites, were everywhere. Horse drawn buggies and little kids peddling bikes with bare feet was a regular sight. But the farms with their smells and sights and sounds drew me in and planted the seeds of a different way of life. And from as early as I can remember, this city boy longed for a country home.

With each house we've lived, we've planted a small vegetable garden along with landscaping. Flowers and plants to beautify the property. Colorful. Sweet smelling. Amy always does a great job of choosing plants that look great and go well together. 

Now, some 40 years later, the rural life is one that suits us. We like the "country" life. We like being outside the city limits. And we like the idea of growing things.

This season might be one of our best planting seasons. We've set out with a pretty ambitious plan for this summers vegetable and flower gardens. Most of the vegetables we were able to start from seeds. The flowers and a handful of vegetables we picked up from our favorite nurseries and box stores. 

Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, pickles; summer staples that we have grown for years. To this years list we've added corn, green beans, peas, broccoli, green cabbage, Brussel sprouts, zucchini, an assortment of pumpkins, squash, and celery. Add to the mix our herbs, blueberries, and raspberries. It's a big list. 

Then there's the watering, weeding, pruning, trimming, and harvesting of fruit. It's work to plan, prepare, grow, maintain, and care for a garden. But we love it. I love it.

But here's the thing.  The work, yeah, it's work. It takes time. There's sweat. It's getting up early and going to bed late. You get dirty. Gardens don't take care of themselves. You have to put in the effort to get to the reward.

For as long as we have been growing gardens, it's the growing that always amazes me. Watching something go from a dry, dormant seed to a vegetable that we pick, then eat, is incredible. And it happens so fast.

Each morning I go out to the garden, I'm excited to see what's grown. The tomatoes are an inch taller. The pumpkin vines are larger. The cucumbers are bigger. The peppers are changing colors. It's growth. It's awesome.

It's a picture of discipleship. For a garden to grow, it must cultivated and cared for. You have to water it, weed it, prune it, and trim it. The same is true of our faith journey. To grow in our faith, we have to water it, weed it, prune it, trim it. We have to care for our faith. Be in the Word. Be committed to prayer. Participate in a bible study or a small group. Go to worship. Be part of a missions trip or service opportunity. Be connected with believers who will encourage you in your faith. These habits help your faith grow.

But even more, discipleship is what you do with other believers. When I worked with students, I would define discipleship as, "doing life together." It's not just knowing other believers, it's knowing about other believers. It's a relationship that you grow as you get to know one another. And as that relationship grows, so does the opportunity for discipleship. 

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As the summer moves on, the plants will continue to grow. The vegetables, herbs, the flowers; will get bigger, more colorful, and ready for picking. 

And, we'll continue to water, weed, prune, trim, and care for our garden. We'll put the work in so we can watch the garden grow, harvest the fruit, and enjoy the labor of our hands.

​So what about you?

Are you taking time to cultivate and care for your faith? Are you watering it? Are you weeding it? Are you taking the time to care for your faith?

Make the commitment to do the work and cultivate and care for your faith. Be discipled. Be a discipler. And watch your faith grow

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