If you know me, you also know I love to work in my yard. Tending to and growing flowers and plants has been a longtime source of joy and pleasure for me. I find it wonderfully satisfying and rewarding to see God’s many beautifully colored and textured plants grow and thrive; well worth to me the money spent and the back breaking work it takes to water, feed and spray!
I especially love perennials which miraculously appear each spring, usually even bigger and healthier than the year before. Hosta plants are my favorite – literally hundreds of varieties available! Hostas come in all sizes and shades of green, white and yellow – the tiny leafed to the elephant sized! They grow in shady beds and sunny beds and require little work, once established. Also, you can rarely hurt a hosta if you want to move it to another spot, divide it into more plants or share with friends. I’ve done just that – move, divide and share. I think I counted 60 hosta plants in the yard this year.
Living in a rural area does present one big problem, however, and that is the risk of wildlife damaging your plants – especially deer! Wild turkeys, rabbits and chipmunks can do their damage, too, but the deer – oh my! Last week, a deer came in and ate all the edges off of my lovely hanging basket – just his height! I’ve learned that a product called Liquid Fence is a great deterrent and I’ve actually watched deer come up to a plant that’s been sprayed and walk away…but last night was the exception! Imagine my sadness this morning when I went out to feed the birds, and discovered that the deer had feasted on about twelve of my nicest hosta plants! Where yesterday bushy, lush leaves grew, today remain leafless stalks! It’s almost been enough to ruin my day!
I will admit that God and I have been talking about this today! I do believe that God is pleased when we enjoy and care for the things He has created. I think He is delighted with my great love for the flowers He has made – but what if God is reminding me that the things of this world are not important in the scope of eternity, and especially at my age? Is He drawing my thoughts more toward Him and not so much with maintaining this house and this yard by myself?
“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) is critical to our relationship with Him. “Be still” comes from a root word meaning “quit striving”, “give up” and ”let go”. Should I be spending more time with things of a spiritual nature and less time in the yard? We can hear God speaking to us when we are calm and peaceful; not burdened, tired or discouraged…as I am often feeling! Psalm 91:1 says “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High shall abide in the secret place of God”.
Are there similar concerns in your life? Perhaps we all need to be more about the things of God and winning souls to Him, and especially in the climate of today’s world. Lord, help each of us to make wise use of our time and energy and the days You have allotted to us on this earth. I want to honor You in every part of my life and please help me remember that even the deer have to find food to eat!!!
