Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:7-10

Have you ever been told possibly by a parent, “You reap what you sow.” I know I have more than once, and I’ve said it to our own children.

Our life lessons learned through our Garden Experiment have already begun. The weeds are having a party in our gardens, and we are determined to eradicate them naturally. The blisters between my thumb and forefinger and on the palms of my hand are a reminder to me of the hard work required to reap a bountiful harvest hopefully in due time. I don’t like wearing gloves. I know, it would help with the blisters, but like holding a good book in my hands, I also like to feel the hoe as I work.

The following pictures were taken yesterday of our children’s garden plots from oldest to youngest. We had a torrential downpour the day after we planted this garden, much of which was seeds, so some of the children lost precious seeds down the hillside. But not to despair, some have jumped at the opportunity to plant more seeds, and all but one have worked hard at eradicating those weeds.

For the oldest, he does have some weeds but he has parsley and dill coming up through them, so he is tending them carefully as he strives to not pull out the good stuff while keeping the bad stuff from taking root.

Oh, the life lessons! Have you wondered what your heart might look like if you think of it as a flower garden? Would it be full of precious and beautiful blooms, or would it be full of pesky weeds that seem to have no real function other than choking out the precious flowers?

I’m not proud to admit that my heart often becomes weedy and the precious flowers that are most near and dear to God’s heart are choking for air and life, all while I fail to tend my heart’s garden by feeding it TRUTH and LIVING WATER. When I try to go it alone, those pesky weeds all too quickly take root all over again. And it ain’t pretty!

Why is that so hard to accept sometimes that we aren’t always in a season of reaping the harvest spiritually? I am in a time of pruning I believe in regards to a particular matter. I want to reap, but in all honesty that is not where God has me at the moment. And I don’t like it! It is just the truth. When I was waiting in the airport in Langzhou to fly back to Beijing, I felt VERY alone. The rest of my mission team was with me as was our in-China guide, but I felt alone. I won’t go into details, but it was just a hard afternoon.

BUT GOD!

I saw a lady walk up with two Chinese people. She had blonde hair and I correctly assumed she could speak English. I waited for her to get settled and then I said, “Hello?” and she said, “Hi! How are you? And what state are you from?” It was kind of funny, but I guess she could tell from my accent that I wasn’t from across the pond and was most likely from the southeastern United States. I told her I was from Tennessee and she said, “I’m from Oklahoma. What are you doing here?” Wow, she got right to the point!

I began to talk to her about our work in China, and she began to share about her medical work there. We talked about Amy Eldridge, the founder of Love Without Boundaries, and how I felt like I know her because she played a very personal part in getting our baby girl the heart surgery she needed, and this lady knows her through some common friends in Oklahoma and because of their shared vision for helping less children in China become orphans.

The thing is I realized after this all took place that one reason at least that our paths crossed was for the sole purpose of MY encouragement. The lady gave me her contact info. as we exited the plane (she was on the same flight as us back to Beijing!), but she had also written a note at the top of the paper. BUT GOD!

Can you read what she wrote?

a planter of seeds

believer

encourager

kindness above all else <3

As she handed me the note folded and we were getting off the plane, she says, “Remember, some of us are called to plant, some to sow, and some to reap. I’m a farmer! I plant!” And then she was gone.

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:5-7

I am very excited about our gardens, and I have taken a more active role than ever before in our gardening. It is a big undertaking and my sweet hubby, the Prez, works long hours and can’t do it all. So, I work on it everyday for an hour or so, and I look forward to the time of harvest when I’ll be  working even more on it gathering ripe veggies, cooking them and hopefully canning some too! We have plans to make fresh salsa as well as can some tomato paste and beans and corn, make dill pickles and pickled okra. We’ve got red potatoes and sweet potatoes, peppers of all kinds, cantaloupe, watermelon and carrots too.

I can’t wait for the plants to grow to fruition, but it takes time. Anything worthwhile usually does, doesn’t it? Babies don’t develop in a week or even a month or a few. It takes time for them to be ready to enter this world. I tend to think God is cultivating our hearts each and every day, pruning here and there, adding seeds here and there, watering over there, and even more cleaning out the pesky weeds that seek to choke out what is good and pleasing, honoring and serving His kingdom purpose.

Right now, my gardens are doing well, but I had to replant some seeds too after that torrential rain. I really, really, really want okra. I love to fry it and pickle it, and nothing you can buy at the store tastes quite like the pods you bring in fresh from the garden. I think God wants only our best too. He doesn’t need our fruit to accomplish His purposes, but I believe nothing delights Him more than to see us flourishing and bearing fruit!

How is your garden growing?