Sowing and Reaping for Eternity

When we moved into our house in August 2006, the growing season was wrapping up—and there was an entire house to unpack—so our desire to plant a garden was put on hold for a while. When spring arrived the following year I could see the wheels turning in my husband’s head. In spite of the fact that our children are city slickers, we wanted them to learn how things grow and what is involved in taking care of a garden and last but not least, how to identify and eliminate weeds.

The first task which fell to the “men” was preparing the soil. Where I grew up in Kentucky, a “garden” was at least a quarter acre or more. So, technically, we had a “patch.” Nonetheless, our patch had never been a vegetable garden before, so the turf had to be removed and the soil beneath loosened and fertilized. The three Calvert men did a beautiful job of this.

Next came the job of putting the plants in the ground. By this time the men-folk were exhausted, so the women took over. We planted tomatoes of differing varieties, okra, banana peppers, bell peppers, zucchini squash, crook-necked squash, and cucumbers. Not a shabby first garden at all. In fact, we were very proud of our little patch.

However, there was a small problem: all this feverish gardening took place the weekend before we left for our two-week family vacation. And the one thing all plants need—especially baby plants—is watering and tending.

Not to worry! My wise and wonderful husband did some research and discovered clever little timers for the hoses and sprinklers. When he hooked them up they seemed to work just fine, so we set off with glad hearts.

We enjoyed a wonderful vacation but the garden was never far from our minds. When we arrived back home, we all avoided the front door and instead headed around the back of the house to greet our little patch. Nate scurried ahead, but when he came running back seconds later we could tell from the look on his face that something was terribly wrong.

“Our garden’s half gone!” he cried.

Sure enough, the garden was a wasteland. It had been pillaged... by rabbits! Not just a nibble here and there, but total destruction of many little plants. They had simply disappeared. But the Calverts are resourceful. No mere rabbit will defeat us! Back to Walmart we went to replace the plants, and this time we added the purchase of a fence to go around the garden. We showed those long-toothed critters who’s the boss around here.

As you can tell, we’ve spent a lot of time (and money) on our gardening project, but the rabbits taught us that our garden is of fleeting value. The lesson really came home to me as I put in all of those plants for the second time and began to think about some other far more precious “plants” I’ve been tending: my children. They will grow up in my care, and one day they will follow me to Heaven. As tiring and demanding as it sometimes is to care for them and nurture them and nourish them, it is well worth all the effort, even when pulling the weeds from their lives. Proverbs 19:18 and 22:6 tell me I should do this now, while I can.

My four tender little plants need so much of my care and protection from all the “rabbits” of this world that would devour them while they are too young to stand on their own. It is a lot of work, but I do enjoy tending my spiritual garden, and I look forward with great anticipation to all the fruit I will one day reap from it.