Plant a Little Hope
If it's true what Steven Pressfield says in his book titled, "Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t,"
why start a gardening blog?
I want to plant hope. I want to share the lessons the garden has taught me and apply them not only to plants but to life.
In a day and age where terrorism, divorce, murder and sex trafficking are more common than going to grandmas and eating apple pie, I have discovered that gardening is a thread of hope - connecting us to the past and tying us to the future.
At the end of a tough day or week or year, one can go out in the yard and at the very least pull up a weed or water a flower or somehow participate in the cycle of life that is bigger than oneself.
Oh sure, nature can just as easily amaze or assault us, but that is why this is not simply a nature blog, it's a gardening blog. Because the act of gardening - planting, tending, weeding, watering -is the act of believing that my actions matter. No matter what is going on in the world, there is always a glimmer of God...of hope...of faith.
When a butterfly alights the afternoon air; or a beautiful sunbeam shoots from the clouds; when a soft, gentle wind blows through your hair, or a marvelous sunset seals the day's end, who can forget that our souls yearn for something good?
Hope is the gift nature gives us.
What we choose to grow is the gift we give back.
The truth is that none of us can germinate a seed, but we can all invest our time to help it along.
So, while seasons, relationships, trends and even our own bodies change, there's one thing that stays the same; we all reap what we sow.
I encourage you today to plant one small act of hope. If it's in the garden, or in a note, if it's simply a smile or a kind text message, remember the grass is greener where you water it.
"Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:5