Wednesday, July 3, 2019

I went out early this morning to walk around in the cool air, checking on how my gardens are doing. It’s been so hot and I wanted to check who might need a bit of watering before the blazing sun hits them again today.

When I took out the grass to plant my English country garden, I chose to dig it out rather than cover it over with landscape fabric. The people who lived here before us chose to use the fabric and we are in one dreadful mess, so I didn’t want to go that route.

So, I dug down deep, pulled out all the grass roots, replaced with good topsoil and triple mix and after I planted the perennials I bought, I mulched deep, at least 4 inches in most places and intend to add more layers of mulch each year.

I worked hard throughout May and June and I take great delight in seeing those tiny plants I put in, not only growing strong but beginning to bloom.

I have to say, it’s starting to look glorious! It’s very satisfying to see that the vision I had in my head during the winter months, is becoming the reality I hoped it would.

But, (and don’t you sometimes just hate the ‘but’??) this morning went I went out to water and check and I was a bit perturbed to see that despite all my efforts, little bits of grass and that blasted weed Speedwell are randomly popping up in my well built gardens!!

Then I realized, those weeds are like sin. I know you’ve likely heard this many times, but it reminded me this morning that sin can creep into a what we think is a well-tended area of our lives. If we are not vigilant to dig them out when they are small and controllable, their roots twist and twine and grow into a strong vigorous system which is much more difficult to get out. Like most weeds, sin grows under the surface and when it finally makes its presence known, popping up looking all tiny and manageable, it’s terribly hard to root out.

It takes attentiveness and hard work to make a garden beautiful. If I don’t tend those little weeds daily, it will soon become a tangled mess, choking out the beauty of my garden.

So it is with sin, we have to be watchful to catch the little ones and pluck them out before they grow strong so the beauty of Christ can be seen in the garden of our lives.