Oh how impatient I can be!
Especially in the garden. I plant a seed and immediately "expect" to see a sprout!
That's kind of how we are throughout our daily lives too, isn't it? What a rush our world is in. What a hurry...do this, do that, go here, finish this, watch that...and on and on. We expect things to be done now now now.
Everything seems so fast paced. We want our news in sound bites. We want our sermons in the palms of our hands.
But back to the idea of the garden and those seeds. Is it not a miracle that all the life that seed needs to reproduce a new plant, bush, tree is in that tiny compact container? It astonishes me every time I think about it.
My garden however seemed stunted and meager. Definitely was a "small beginning".
But I learned how to remediate my soil. I learned how to deflect the intense July sun. I learned zucchini loves this climate while waiting for things to take off and grow.
By the end of summer, I was harvesting more than plenty of squash. Small but tasty tomatoes. I even harvested some sweet cantaloupe! However, the lettuce never got over 1 inch high. The cucumbers and potatoes were the most horribly bitter things I've ever eaten. The corn never produced. The beans were measly. Not a single radish grew.
I could have despised my small beginnings garden. Even through the frustrations, I loved it. I took a bare space of awful native bentonite soil and made a few beautiful things grow.
This season the garden is leaps and bounds better and it's only mid-June. I'm harvesting lovely, sweet lettuces. Kale is extremely happy and abundant. The tomato plants are growing and even starting to see blooms on a couple of them. The cantaloupes are coming up. So are the beans and corn. We've eaten several big, beautiful strawberries. Oh! and the zucchini...there are rouge plants coming up EVERYWHERE!
In this hurry up and get there world, it's nice to have a spot to watch things take their time. A spot where the birds sing as they go about their day. It's joyful to watch those tiny seeds growing and be hopeful for a delicious harvest in the not-too-distant future.
I added raspberries this year. Rhubarb as well. The asparagus patch is coming along nicely too. I won't get to harvest any of them this year. But one day I will. I rejoice in their small beginnings.
When you have something that seems to be progressing at a much slower rate than you'd like, take time to enjoy the progress, no matter the speed. Learn from the time spent waiting. Learn more about the next phase it will enter. The beginnings may seem small and slow, but there is a harvest waiting on the other side.
Sweet blessings my friend,
Lynn
"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.” Zech 4:10
