Invitation

Yesterday I went to the Victory Garden of a Gal I hardly know. She is receiving a radiation treatment, and her thoughtful Husband wanted all the summer vegetables cleaned out before she got home from a week away. I went early, got my instructions, and got started.

The first part was a pretty dirty job pulling out some massive plants. I felt confident I was doing just as I had been instructed. No big questions as to if I was causing harm or not. After I finished, I was to do some pruning.

When I got home, and was showering I was thinking about what a blessing it was to be invited tend to another person's garden. A real treat, for sure. As I was thinking and praying, it became clear there was a major lesson taught to me just a little earlier.

It wasn't nearly as easy when it was time to go through and prune. I was unsure of how much she would want cut back, and didn't want to get too happy with the trimmers. Isn't it like that in relationships too? It isn't usually the big, or hard stuff that does us in. It's the little things. The "biggies" may require more labor in some way, but the real agony can come in the many little things.

My time yesterday in her garden underscored for me just how important it is to use a very light hand in dealing with or judging another person's actions. I don't know what all has taken place in the garden of their soul. The changes in the landscape, the flowers, the pests, the plants, the weeds, the fruit, the growth, the set backs, what's to stay, what's to go. I simply don't know what the Master Gardener's priorities are in another person's garden.

Unless I'm INVITED to help prune, and even then, prayer, a light hand, and a tender heart is only proper.

Thank you Lord for such a rich lesson in the garden.