Gardening, God and Grace

There are few things that I enjoy more than gardening. There is something very rewarding about working the land, planting, caring and growing your own food. I've always thought I'd like to live off-grid, homestead my own land and be self sufficient. Since that lifestyle is out of reach for me I do what I can in the place that God has put me.

This year my garden is a tiny bit smaller than previous years. We have woods on three sides of us and a field on the other side. The field is owned by our new neighbors and they have chose to let it grow up. This has happened one other year in the nine years I have lived here and that year my garden was a waste of time and effort. Between the deer, raccoon, groundhogs and squirrels I did not get and harvest that year. Naturally I am afraid of the same happening again. I have several plans to try to avert this, but I'll talk about that more in another post.

This past Tuesday was beautiful. The temperature was in the seventies, the sun was shining and there was a cool breeze blowing. I took advantage of the day by doing some garden work. I got it all tilled and hoed, my tomatoes staked, added some Epsom salt around some plants and worked on some ways to repel wildlife.

It felt so good to be in the sunshine. At the end of the day my body was tired, but my heart was happy and my soul at ease. I always get in some extra prayer time while in the garden and spending the day talking with God is what I needed most. This past year has been challenging. I have faced some things that have been very hard. Everyone has a battle they're fighting and I'm no exception. But one thing I know... God's grace gets me through. I often wonder how people who don't have God make it. He is my rock, my firm foundation. When the world around me shakes, He is my steady. Sometimes I just need a little garden time with God to be reminded of His goodness.