Green Thumb…Well Kind Of

Farming runs through my veins.  I mean…I guess it does.  My great-grandfather was a farmer.  My grandmother and grandfather grew up around farming.  My mom worked the fields.  So, yea…farming is part of my legacy.  With all that being said, I have limited man-hours in the dirt.  I love the thought of a beautiful flower garden in my flower beds, and I love the thought of a vegetable garden in my backyard.  But when I think of the labor that is required to maintain those things…

One day, my coworker gifted me with 2 cuttings of different plants.  I went to Home Depot to buy these two little guys containers and soils.  Maintaining a flower and vegetable garden seemed like too much work, but I could definitely handle these little fellas.  They nestled into their containers.  I placed them on the windowsill of my kitchen so that they would get sunlight. 

Time passed.  I occasionally watered my new roommates.  No one was brown.  They were hanging in there.  Leaves pointed towards the sun.  I began to rotate them so that neither one of them felt that the other had a better spot.  Yup.  Things were moving along just fine.

Then it happened.  My co-worker showed me a picture of her plant.  And it was huge.  We had both started out with cuttings.  My plant was still green.  It was not dead or dying.  But it was not growing like hers.  I expressed my concern about my poor fellas.  She asked how often I watered it.  Well, I was not exactly consistent with the watering.  I had lots of valid reasons for my inconsistent schedule.  She recommended more watering and even a different location for them to soak up some sun.

That has been me at various points with my spiritual life.  My relationship with Christ is not dead, but it has not been growing as it should.  We are connected and I appear to be doing just fine.  However, I am not flourishing.  We talk regularly, but it has been haphazard on my part.  I have a feeling that I could be much stronger if I made daily time with Him a priority.

I listened to my co-worker.  I moved the plants to a sunnier location.  I watered them on a regular basis.  And wouldn’t you know it.  They began to flourish.  The leaves spilled over the edges of the container and dragged the floor.  My plants went from green and alive to green and thriving.

Lately, I have taken the same approach to my spiritual life.  Meditating on God’s word in the morning before I get out of bed.  Listening intently for God’s voice.  I’ve been basking in the Son.  In time, the love will spill over and everyone will be able to tell.  #wepreach