July 31, 2012

July 31, 2012

Beloved:

     “Consider the birds and the flowers,” Jesus said, “Are you not more valuable than them?  If your heavenly Father feeds them, what won’t he do for you?  

    I might have over-fertilized. The new soil in my garden was scraped off a cow pasture somewhere in Lawrence County.  To that I added some 12-12-12 and I’ve watered every other day.  There are tomatoes in there I can’t get to and pepper plants I can’t find.  The sunflower stalks are big as my wrist and so top heavy they fell over.  I tied them to the fence with garden twine which snapped after a few days.  Now I have them anchored with bungie cord.  I’ll need a ladder to cut flowers.  It’s like Creation’s playing a crazy joke!
    But opposite this jungle is the greater grace ~ the rose canes have sprouted new leaves.  In May they were heavy with red blooms and foliage.  Then we transplanted them and everything died off.  I replanted the tall sticks and for two months I’ve watered them, babied them, talked to them and prayed for them a little.  I read a book on roses and decided mine were finished.  I’d killed them.  
     Nope. They are alive.  They have been alive all this time, healing and gaining strength from the soil, sun and water ~ maybe a little from the prayers too.  But I was only praying God might do what God has already done.  Sun and soil and water are what make all things grow.  As always, my part is to trust and obey.  Trust Nature to take its usual course while obediently doing what I can like weed, water and pray.  I was better at obedience than trust.  Instead of believing it was alive, I decided it was dead, my impatience being the only supporting evidence.  

     What faith and joy come with being wrong!  What hope comes by way of plain old roses!  What seemed surely dead is alive and gaining strength however dormant it appears.   Most amazing of all ~ it’s not a miracle, not an anomaly.  It’s simply how God works, the original design set in motion once for all and we are part of it.  Our lives, our hurts, our healing are as incorporated into Creation’s design as sunflowers and roses.  God is always doing God’s part.  Ours is to trust and obey.   ~peace and prayers, pastor annette