Monday, July 20, 2009
I just wanted y'all to see these pictures from 2006 to prove that I actually have grown stuff before. It's not that I'm insecure or anything...really, I'm not. I'm not insecure at all. Do you believe me? Because I need you to believe me. I'm not insecure. I can grow stuff...see the pictures?
Abby waters our garden back in California
Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way, I can get down to business.
Most of you probably know that Club Amaro has joined together with our very good friends down the street to grow a vegetable garden this season. Because they have a large family (six) and a big yard (huge, I'm telling you) the garden plot is...well...the size of a small country. Ok, I'm exaggerating, it's only the size of a small state.
After the last few days, I've been reflecting on the lessons that I have learned from my time (or lack thereof) with the garden. Of course it's not enough for me to just keep my thoughts to myself, I have to blab them all over the web. So if you're not interested in my thoughts on the garden, I'm sure there are much more worthwhile things to look at during your time here on the web. Have you been to Hulu.com?
Ah, I see you're still here...fabulouso! I've broken my thoughts down with commentary (what's new, right?)...
1. PROPER PLANNING & PREPARATION IS EVERYTHING
Do not....I repeat....DO NOT put me in charge of ANYTHING that requires graph paper, rulers or mechanical pencils. It will not go well for you.
If you don't properly plan and prepare (or if you don't plan and prepare at all), there will most likely be more work for yourself down the road. Putting more work up front will pay dividends and perhaps save alot of hassle.
I don't always want to take the time to prepare or plan. I can be a very lazy person sometimes. There are those times when it's inconvenient for me to prepare and plan.
Where in my life am I choosing comfort and convenience over diligent planning and preparation?
2. BE FLEXIBLE - CIRCUMSTANCES DON'T ALWAYS COOPERATE
File this one also under: I AM NOT IN CONTROL.
You know, it is really not so cool when you plan to go harvest and weed, then out of nowhere comes a torrential downpour. Not cool at all.
I need to be ready for things to come my way. However, it's impossible to be ready for everything - in fact, you can really get spun out trying to be ready for everything. I think it's more important to be flexible. Flexibility allows us to take circumstances just as they come. We can surely count on there being times when things are out of our control and any attempt to control them brings us S~T~R~E~S~S! That stress drains us of our energy...energy that should be used for taking care of things that we DO have control over. Better to be flexible with things that you have no control over.
Where in my life can I exchange my need to control the planet and everyone on it with flexibility?
3. NEGLECT IS A TERRIBLE THING
Note to self. Do not start a garden and then leave the state for 2 weeks.
Sometimes neglect cannot be avoided...in the case of our garden, we had the unfortunate situation of all parties leaving town for at least two weeks (in the case of our friends, leaving overseas for a month). So the garden was quite content to continue on without us...in ways that we could never imagine. I'm hoping I don't need to elaborate here...do I need to paint you a picture? Weeds, people. Big weeds. And crabgrass. Tall and prolific grass. And poison something-or-other. And big, unidentifiable vegetables.
For those times of neglect that cannot be avoided, please see #2 above.
However, sometimes neglect occurs because we don't want to face something. It can also be attributed to laziness or the "P" word (procrastination - you probably don't know anything about this, but I was actually consulted by Webster himself when he wrote the definition).
Where in my life am I neglecting something? Why am I doing that? Who and or what is suffering because of my inability to do what needs to be done?
Reminder - there is almost always other parties who suffer when I choose to neglect something!
4. IT'S EASIER TO REMOVE SOMETHING WHEN PREPARATION HAS OCCURRED
Have you ever tried to pull a weed out of hard, dry ground? Have you ever tried to pull a weed out after a few days of rain? Weeds are a wonderful analogy for sin in our lives. Don't get me started, I could do a whole post on that alone. Weeds are bad for a garden, but I know they do serve a purpose. Once we decide to pull that sucker out, it goes so much easier if we do a little preparation on the front end. You can't make it rain, but a little watering makes the process easier.
Like dealing with weeds, confronting sin in our lives is not easy. It can be overwhelming, scary, difficult or bring on anxiety or denial. Or all of the above and then some. Coming before God in humility, with a genuine desire to overcome our issues can be like a much needed dampening of hard, dry ground. This act must be consistent and persistent to be effective, though. A hard, dry ground responds much better to consistent watering in proper amounts over a period of time then it does to just dumping a big bucket of water over it!
What sin in my life am I not confronting? What needs to be taken to the throne of my Lord in humility? Where am I not being consistent and persistent with my "bringing to the Lord"?
I actually have much more than this on my mind, but I'm sure that you're about to beat me with a 3 foot zucchini at this point. So I'm going to leave it at 4 and call it a night. If you're still with me, you have my sincere thanks for enduring through my introspection. Most of all I thankful for the Co-op which has been yet another tool that God has used to teach me. If only I could pass the tests on the first taking!
Tomatoes, Peppers and Basil...oh my!
Lots of love,
k
"For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he may have enough to finish it; lest perhaps, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all those seeing begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish." Luke 14:28-30
Abby waters our garden back in California
Our California Garden
Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way, I can get down to business.
Most of you probably know that Club Amaro has joined together with our very good friends down the street to grow a vegetable garden this season. Because they have a large family (six) and a big yard (huge, I'm telling you) the garden plot is...well...the size of a small country. Ok, I'm exaggerating, it's only the size of a small state.
After the last few days, I've been reflecting on the lessons that I have learned from my time (or lack thereof) with the garden. Of course it's not enough for me to just keep my thoughts to myself, I have to blab them all over the web. So if you're not interested in my thoughts on the garden, I'm sure there are much more worthwhile things to look at during your time here on the web. Have you been to Hulu.com?
Ah, I see you're still here...fabulouso! I've broken my thoughts down with commentary (what's new, right?)...
1. PROPER PLANNING & PREPARATION IS EVERYTHING
Do not....I repeat....DO NOT put me in charge of ANYTHING that requires graph paper, rulers or mechanical pencils. It will not go well for you.
If you don't properly plan and prepare (or if you don't plan and prepare at all), there will most likely be more work for yourself down the road. Putting more work up front will pay dividends and perhaps save alot of hassle.
I don't always want to take the time to prepare or plan. I can be a very lazy person sometimes. There are those times when it's inconvenient for me to prepare and plan.
Where in my life am I choosing comfort and convenience over diligent planning and preparation?
2. BE FLEXIBLE - CIRCUMSTANCES DON'T ALWAYS COOPERATE
File this one also under: I AM NOT IN CONTROL.
You know, it is really not so cool when you plan to go harvest and weed, then out of nowhere comes a torrential downpour. Not cool at all.
I need to be ready for things to come my way. However, it's impossible to be ready for everything - in fact, you can really get spun out trying to be ready for everything. I think it's more important to be flexible. Flexibility allows us to take circumstances just as they come. We can surely count on there being times when things are out of our control and any attempt to control them brings us S~T~R~E~S~S! That stress drains us of our energy...energy that should be used for taking care of things that we DO have control over. Better to be flexible with things that you have no control over.
Where in my life can I exchange my need to control the planet and everyone on it with flexibility?
3. NEGLECT IS A TERRIBLE THING
Note to self. Do not start a garden and then leave the state for 2 weeks.
Sometimes neglect cannot be avoided...in the case of our garden, we had the unfortunate situation of all parties leaving town for at least two weeks (in the case of our friends, leaving overseas for a month). So the garden was quite content to continue on without us...in ways that we could never imagine. I'm hoping I don't need to elaborate here...do I need to paint you a picture? Weeds, people. Big weeds. And crabgrass. Tall and prolific grass. And poison something-or-other. And big, unidentifiable vegetables.
For those times of neglect that cannot be avoided, please see #2 above.
However, sometimes neglect occurs because we don't want to face something. It can also be attributed to laziness or the "P" word (procrastination - you probably don't know anything about this, but I was actually consulted by Webster himself when he wrote the definition).
Where in my life am I neglecting something? Why am I doing that? Who and or what is suffering because of my inability to do what needs to be done?
Reminder - there is almost always other parties who suffer when I choose to neglect something!
4. IT'S EASIER TO REMOVE SOMETHING WHEN PREPARATION HAS OCCURRED
Have you ever tried to pull a weed out of hard, dry ground? Have you ever tried to pull a weed out after a few days of rain? Weeds are a wonderful analogy for sin in our lives. Don't get me started, I could do a whole post on that alone. Weeds are bad for a garden, but I know they do serve a purpose. Once we decide to pull that sucker out, it goes so much easier if we do a little preparation on the front end. You can't make it rain, but a little watering makes the process easier.
Like dealing with weeds, confronting sin in our lives is not easy. It can be overwhelming, scary, difficult or bring on anxiety or denial. Or all of the above and then some. Coming before God in humility, with a genuine desire to overcome our issues can be like a much needed dampening of hard, dry ground. This act must be consistent and persistent to be effective, though. A hard, dry ground responds much better to consistent watering in proper amounts over a period of time then it does to just dumping a big bucket of water over it!
What sin in my life am I not confronting? What needs to be taken to the throne of my Lord in humility? Where am I not being consistent and persistent with my "bringing to the Lord"?
I actually have much more than this on my mind, but I'm sure that you're about to beat me with a 3 foot zucchini at this point. So I'm going to leave it at 4 and call it a night. If you're still with me, you have my sincere thanks for enduring through my introspection. Most of all I thankful for the Co-op which has been yet another tool that God has used to teach me. If only I could pass the tests on the first taking!
Tomatoes, Peppers and Basil...oh my!
Lots of love,
k
"For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he may have enough to finish it; lest perhaps, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all those seeing begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish." Luke 14:28-30
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1 comments:
Are you trying to speak confirmation in my life or are you just being a willing servant? When are you taking over small group? Small steps before the big pulpit...lol! You know how to put it gracefully.