Lessons of the garden

I am a novice gardener.  My very first garden was made up of tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans planted in a little 3x6 raised bed in the backyard.

Actual gardening seemed easy enough: insert seed, add water, watch grow...right?  Not being a fan of reading directions, or following them, even if I do happen to read them,  I took no notice of the label on the seed package that explained how far apart to space each seed.  Obviously, if you want more vegetables then you should plant more seeds.  Who cares if you have a small garden plot?!  Pack 'em in closer!

My mind was filled visions of the little 3x6 garden producing pounds of tomatoes, beans and cucumbers, perhaps even enough to build a little roadside stand to sell them to neighbors.  Instead of pounds of tomatoes,  there were just some scraggly plants that produced only a fistful of green beans and 2 pitiful tomatoes.

And I learned a lesson.  Plants need space to grow.  They need room to spread out their stems.  They need plenty of soil to not have to compete with other plants for nutrients.  More plants does necessarily not mean more vegetables. 

I think I've been trying this same approach in life: More activity equals more fruitfulness.  Cram in activity after "important" activity.  Every need feels like a call to action and participation.  Every invitation is returned with a "yes."  Every spare moment or empty space of time must be filled in.

But in the end, I am exhausted and wondering where the fruit is. Yeah, there's a couple of green beans and a little tomato or two, but not much worth eating.  If my life is a 3x6 garden, everything is packed in a little too close.

As school winds up this year, I am exhausted and overwhelmed and trying to learn the lessons of the garden.  My life is small and I am only one person.  I want to live a fruitful life for Christ, but perhaps I have thought about it incorrectly.  In this fast-paced culture, where importance and success is measured in numbers and results, slowing down and focusing on just a few things can be guilt-inducing-"Why aren't you doing more?"

But what if real fruitfulness is found in less and not more? Or maybe less and more.  Less frantic activity and more letting the roots run deep and fully being in those few areas where I choose to sow my life.

So little by little, I am plucking up the extra plants crammed into my life.  It is difficult to decide which ones to keep and which to discard.  But even as I do, I begin to see the ones that are left begin to spread out their leaves and fill into the newly cleared space.  And out in the backyard our garden is also growing, with perfectly spaced plants reaching out and up and little tomatoes ripening on the vine.

Tomatoes!  Thanks to my husband who actually reads directions about spacing
and is helping me make space in my life :)