So Many Seeds...So Little Time

“We all have a path to take; sometimes it's hidden under the weeds, so you might have to work a little.” ~Mike Dolan

It’s been a great summer for my garden this year; I have seen a bounty of vegetables like no other. Thank goodness, I was beginning to think I didn’t have it in me anymore! Once again, God has shown me that it's not all about me. My green beans are playing out (although I have not checked on them for about a week because we have had so much rain) and the older squash plants as well. The tomatoes are slowing down, and the Roma’s are wrapping it up; they are “determinate”, which means that the fruit ripens at one time, rather than continually through the season, so when they’re done, they’re done. The cantaloupes are running the show now. They are creeping into every corner of the garden! I was admiring the eggplants a few days ago and saw a cantaloupe peeking out from behind. Those little melons get in the darndest places! They have been very entertaining this year.

Thoughts of a fall garden are creeping in, still not too late to plant pumpkins although it would be a little behind schedule because I would want them for Halloween. If they were to befriend the cantaloupe it might end in a hostile takeover!

A fall garden, in Central Texas, Zone 8, might include such as this:  beans, beets, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collards, cucumber, eggplant, garlic, lettuce, mustard, parsley, peppers, radish, spinach, squash (summer and winter), tomato, and turnip.

That sounds like a lot of work to me!  I find my drive to keep the garden producing is lacking these days!  It is truly many hours of some back-breaking work, and with the rain I have taken somewhat of a break in working out there, thus grown a little lazy…

So many seeds, so little time...God tell us in the Bible that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  As I struggle to put in the hours it takes to keep a backyard garden growing and flourishing, I think about the fact that I get so much more than I put into it.  I plant one seed and in return get boundless more.  I often think too about how my work for Christ is very much like planting seeds; the work takes time, is often wearisome, and the workers are few, but the bounty I receive as a result explodes exponentially in all areas of my life.  God is so good, so faithful; He opens the windows of Heaven and the blessings pour in.  Seems like a pretty good investment to me!

“Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” – Matthew 9:37-38 NIV