This winter I asked my friend if she wanted help at the community garden for the organization she’s a part of, believe it or not, she said “YES!” She didn’t even pause when she said it. Like she had been praying about it.
Community Gardens are A LOT of work. Really. A LOT.
Once I had a community garden and TWICE in the same year, someone kept stealing the plants I put in. TWICE. The third time I said “this is it!”. But also I laughed because people needed the plants and they took them, what is community if we don’t give what we have to give?
So this year, I’ve been nervous for months because I KNOW what it takes for success, and it’s not reliant on my to show up to a garden in a community. It’s reliant on the community. Teaching kids about gardening, sharing what we grow, sharing the labor of love. It’s about water and prayer.
My friends donated A TON of plants this year, like WOWZA a lot of plants. And some deer came and ate the tops off the pepper plants… and Trampled right through the garden… RUDE. Maybe they will be dinner soon….
I did winter sowing and didn’t trust that the seeds would sprout, so I bought too many plants… filled in the spots in the beds that were open. Look at how God works, even when I lack trust that He will take care of my smallest needs!
I was in the Gardening Store the other day looking at seeds and felt/heard a nudge to buy seeds. “buy the seeds”, I kept walking, “BUY THE SEEDS”.
God has given me a vision of two beds of flowers to honor some people that we lost this past year. It was little different thing “I” envisioned but it’s working out perfectly, there will be a place for pollinators and it will be beautiful, and if people want, they can put the flowers for their homes. We give our gifts to make the world beautiful. That is Community.
When I was planting the flower seeds which are a mixture of a lot of packets and seeds harvested from my own garden I started to worry about water and rain. I had also planted cucumber seeds, green and purple beans. I had looked at the weather forecast and decided I needed to plant Monday or Tuesday based on the rain coming up! Thank you May Showers! But what if? What if the forecast is wrong, what if the birds eat the seeds, what if it just doesn’t rain? What a disappointment! And then I wondered if people would be disappointed in me, that I screwed up the garden. Oh jeez… what a mess.
And then I remembered. I remembered who God is. The One. He made flowers and plants BEFORE there was even a seed! How easy it is to say I trust God but how really hard it is to prove it. How many times must God show up in order for me to trust Him? 1, 2, 10, 100? A million? What’s the number? Because I can’t think of a moment that God didn’t work for my good or the good of those He loves. But still, my heart forgets to trust. My fickle heart forgets. Will God bring rain to the garden?
And then you know what happened? It rained for HOURS yesterday. And then it’s going to rain today. And tomorrow. It’s sooooo good for the plants and the seeds. The plants will be established and ready for the heat of summer.
Here we go! Trusting.
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