Maintain The Gain

 (Before)

 

(After!)

I have started a garden. I have turned into my grandmother.
I like watching birds. I like learning about the different flowers.
I like listening to birds singing and trying to remember which one it is.

Yesterday, a friend of mine from out of town came to help me get it all set up. She had lived here previously and done a lot of work on the garden I had so conveniently inherited.
We went to a local farm and got lots of flowers; marigolds, geraniums, Salvia, succulents, and some crazy rainbow sherbet looking junk.
We also went to Home Depot (woof) and got a bird bath, pots, soil, a hose, etc.

And after a lot of work, shrimp, basement floods, water refills, slivers, and dirty hands...

it. is. finished.

And I really believe God wants to use this garden experience to teach me something profound; maintenance.

Maintaining something you have started or established is no easy task. One-and-done jobs are so nice because it's easy and it requires your attention for one moment and then you can go about your life. The funny thing is...I currently can not remember anything that only happens once. Well, maybe death. Here's some examples of things (some very annoying to me personally) that require maintenance:

Buying flowers for your dining room table. They die. Enjoy getting more.
Buying groceries. You eat them. Enjoy getting more.
Daily devotional time with Jesus. You quickly forget. Enjoy renewing your mind daily. (But really)
Daily dying to yourself.
Working out. Had a nice workout? Enjoy having another.
And on and on the list goes.

This garden will require maintenance.
And I will have to stay on top of it.
I have to remember how often to water. And that cycle is different than the miracle grow cycle. And sometimes, it will be a chore. Having that little paradise in my backyard comes at a cost.
But I know that He will want to talk to me about weeding, maintaining things, death, life cycles, the importance of rest, about water bringing life, about taking care of even the birds, etc etc.

I'm excited to have a summer with my Father. I'm excited to learn and be taught through His creation.
And I'm excited to potentially keep something alive (I will!) and not kill it

(with forgetfulness, laziness, or neglectfulness).

I think there's a lesson with this garden in those 3 relationship and success killers, too.
Those who have ears to ear, let them hear. Lord, give me ears...

Cheers to summer projects!
Anyone have advice on humming bird feeders?
 (Or how to kill squirrels?!?!)

 (Before)

 (After!)

xoxo,
mp

Repotting  

by Lynne Sharon Schwartz

The healthy plant outgrows its pot

the way a healthy child outgrows its clothes.

Don't let it suffer constriction. Spread the Sports

or Business section of the New York Times

on the dining room table. Find a clay pot

big enough for fresh growth. In the bottom

place pebbles and shards from a broken pot for drainage.

Add handfuls of moist black potting soil,

digging your hands deep in the bag, rooting

so the soil gets under your fingernails.

Using a small spade or butter knife,

ease the plant out of its old pot with extreme

care so as not to disturb its wiry roots.

The plant is naked, suspended from your hand

like a newborn, roots and clinging soil

exposed. Treat it gently. Settle it

into the center of the new pot, adding soil

on the sides for support—who isn't shaky,

moving into a new home ?

Pack more soil around the plant,

tapping it down till you almost reach the rim.

Flounce the leaves as you would a skirt. Then water.

Place the pot back on the shelf in the sunlight.

Gather the Sports section around the spilled soil

and discard. Watch your plant flourish.

You have done a good and necessary deed.