Making the Best of It

“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald

Half a century…that seems like a very, very long time.  Today I turned 50.  I had visions of lying in bed all day lamenting over the fact that I am, in fact, truly getting older.  It’s like I wanted, like it is expected of me to be unhappy, to wallow in misery…but I woke up, refreshed and happy, went for a walk, and worked in the garden, just like I did when I was 49.  I feel the same!  While my body ages, my spirit stays fresh. 

What I love best about being 50 is that I can just be me.  I am OK.  The insecurity I felt in the past is easing up.  I haven’t fully arrived, but I realize that I am a creation of God, and in me, he created a unique being: the way I look, my personality, my soul; all designed for just me.  I strive to see myself through His eyes, as a beloved daughter of the most-high God.  I have an inheritance that only a few can claim (thank you Jesus) and it grows richer with loving and serving others.  I have the best guidebook ever, it is called the Bible.  It is chocked full of expressions of love, wisdom, comfort, and examples of how to live.  All this and a God who will never leave me nor forsake me; I can’t lose; it is as simple as that.  One, or 50 more years, God willing, I want to make the best of it.

Just a few things I have learned over the last 50:  I don’t have to fix everyone else; a mild, non assertive personality pays off in the end; it is OK to say no; forgiveness affords freedom; you have to be as good as you expect everyone else to be; judging others is not my job; gardening is therapy; families are not perfect, but worth the investment; time is more important than things; the child in me lives on; I am not responsible for other people’s feelings or actions; dogs are truly human’s best friends; hurt people hurt people; friends are family we pick for ourselves; marriages can’t survive without God; it’s not all about me after all; being a Christian is not about religion; crying is not a weakness; worrying is not trusting God; you can’t run from your problems but you can sure distance yourself; keep score and you lose; the housework can wait; words hurt; one kind word or gesture can change someone’s day; the past is a great teacher;  you have to look forward, not back; grandchildren rock; and all you need is love…really.

“Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die.”  – Psalm 103:15 NLT

Gardening...A Ministry

"When heaven falls to earth it becomes a garden" ~ Stoufer

My cup runneth over...the freezer is filled with squash and okra that dream of filling a winter stew or gumbo; the table is covered with a bright red sea of ripening tomatoes; peppers, peppers, and more peppers wait in the refrigerator for a cook with a taste for spice; and cucumber and eggplant are still roasting on the vines.  It is hard to believe that just four months ago I was expressing my doubts over whether or not a harvest would ever be made on that plot of land again! 

This year I have been tucking away the veggies into plastic bags and sharing them with friends and family.  In doing so, I thought about what a great ministry a garden could be.  Taking a bag or basket of freshly grown vegetables to a neighbor to “break the ice”, opens the door to new friendships and sharing of lives, testimonies, and love.  What a beautiful way to love your neighbor.

Lately, I too have begun to love the idea of community gardens, supporting local growers, eating organically, recycling, and living with less.  The later part of that statement doesn’t come so easy to me because I love my “stuff”.  I have been thinking a lot, however, about the benefits of “less is more”…less of a house, less furniture, less decorations…less stuff.  It would free up my mind and time so that I can concentrate on what matters more, that being serving others, spending more time with family and friends, and of course, gardening!!!

This week I will celebrate my 50^th birthday!  Encouragement abounds from friends, family, and even research I have done that this next decade will hold some of the best years of my life.  I have been so blessed already and I am truly looking forward to what God has in store for me.  As He whittles away and shapes me into His image, I hope that more and more as I look in the mirror, what I see will not be an aging semblance, but more so a beautiful reflection of the one who gave all so that I might live…the one who is my advocate, my strong defender, my friend… Jesus Christ.’

“To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  

-Ephesians 4:22 - 24

The Garden in My Mind's Eye

“Accepting the reality of our broken, flawed lives is the beginning of spirituality not because the spiritual life will remove our flaws but because we let go of seeking perfection and, instead, seek God, the one who is present in the tangledness of our lives. ”  ― Mike Yaconelli

As I work each morning in the garden, I find myself frustrated at the fact that I cannot seem to keep up with all that needs to be done, even though I work at it most every day.  The weeds and grass grow back faster than I can pull them.  The front yard, well forget about it, it is just truly neglected.  Living up to my own expectations of what my garden should look like is not realistic.  Yet I go through feelings of guilt and frustration because I can’t make it look like what exists in the garden in my mind’s eye.  I guess it is like anything else, in thumbing through magazines and watching the gardening shows on television, I build up this “idea” of a perfect, beautiful garden where you would be welcomed in under an arbor and through a rustic fence that leads to a bench.  This bench is surrounded by many interesting plant varieties with rose bushes holding the lead role of the show.  The yard is filled with perennials, raised vegetable beds, herbs, spring bulbs, grasses, elephant ears and  beautiful ferns.  The garden is divided by walkways and paths; charming accents abound, including a rain barrel decorated by the grandchildren. There are climbing vines on trellises and arbors and a swing that entices you to come sit and enjoy the shade of one of the many crepe myrtle trees that explode in fushia all across the yard.  Surprises are around every bend and a small statuary, birdbaths, stepping stones, and metal sculptures contribute interesting focal points to this backyard sanctuary – all continually engaging the eye.  

Needless to say, that is not what actually exists.  I was thinking about it this morning and wondered why I can’t just enjoy it for what it is?  Yes, there are grass and weeds that seem to grow up behind me as I tug and pluck them away; there is bailing wire and an old white fence that stakes and supports top heavy tomato plants; and the mulch that is trying oh so hard to contain the grass soldiers that persistently push through barricades is slowly losing the battle.  But at the same time, the yellow and zuchinni squash slide out from underneath their mother plants, drop their blooms, and grow to incredible sizes if not kept in check; okra points to the sky and draws the plant upward; peppers spice the garden in green and red; pole beans dangle over the sides of the raised bed; and purple eggplant balloons out into incredible, delicious eye candy.  Hiding under the cucumber and squash vines that climb up a trellis are round, sweet cantaloupes that are enveloped in grass, and I experience delight in the find.

Even in the messiness of the garden that is my reality, I find true beauty and joy.  It is such an analogy of my life.  Even in my messiness, God sees a child who is beautiful and worthy.  He opens my eyes and shows me that I have been deceived into forming an unrealistic vision of who I should be based on what the world tells me is beautiful and desirable.  He reminds me that in Him I AM beautiful and worthy and that in the chaos I will grow and thrive.  I, like my garden, am a mess, but therein lies beauty, surprises, fun, and true growth.  And when harvest time comes, I will be made perfect, just like the garden in my mind's eye.

 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”—Ps 139:14

A Melon In The Mix

“Even in the familiar there can be surprise and wonder.” ― Tierney Gearon

While picking cucumbers in my garden the other day, I reached for one and noticed that it was incredibly round, and the texture was different, and the color was not green…I looked at it for about a minute before I realized it was no cucumber, it was a cantaloupe!  How the heck did that get there?  I didn’t plant any cantaloupes!  I am companion planting and didn’t even know it!  I guess a cantaloupe seed defected over to the cucumber seed bin!  But I love surprises, and cantaloupe is one of my favorites, so it was a welcome novelty aside it’s vined cousins.

Some interesting facts about cantaloupes:

• Black cats love it.
• It is good to help you quit smoking.
• It's good to make the sun out of if you're doing a model of the solar system in grade school.
• Penicillin owes everything to the cantaloupe.
• Cantaloupe was named after Cantalupo, Italy, the city where cantaloupe was originally cultivated from Armenia melon seeds in the 1700’s. 
• Christopher Columbus transported melon seeds to the United States, which were later cultivated by Spanish explorers in California. 
• To see if your cantaloupe is ripe just shake it. You should be able to hear the seeds when it is 100% ripe.
• You can blend the seeds & their pulp with pineapple juice for a 'nutty' milk.
• Cantaloupe, which is actually called a muskmelon, is the most common melon within the United States.
• Cantaloupe is part of the melon family which includes squash, cucumber, gourds, and pumpkin.

(Interesting facts found here:  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091213161646AAkyyeJ,http://lsned.com/facts/penicillin-invention/, http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/hsmrs/NJ%20Quick%20Steps/NJ_Qk_Steps_Participant/Cantaloupe.pdf, http://sweetkisses9187.hubpages.com/hub/Fruit-Tips-and-Tricks-Exposed, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDELz3OblT8, http://www.purplekittyyarns.com/fruits-and-vegetables/cantaloupe)

As I have written before, my favorite part of gardening are the “surprises” that God throws in.  He will roll in a few thunderbolts in our lives as well.  We think we have it all figured out and boom, there is that round, course fruit where a cucumber should be.  These surprises in life are not always as pleasant as they are in the garden, but they are proof that God is in control and we are not!  His ways are not our ways and He alone authored the plan for our lives, not to be directed or altered by us.  Thus, some surprises we will experience.

A little melon in the mix of life is not always a bad thing.  It may add a different spin on what was originally planned, but also adds a little spice to the original plan.  In my case, I will be mixing my cantaloupe with the peppers and onions for a sweet and savory salsa!  Bon appetite!

 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. – Isaiah 55:8 NIV