trials, fertilizer,and overflow...connection please????

Well, this garden isn't as beautiful as my mothers gardens... but it will be! Scott and I are so excited, this year we are finally getting around to planting a vegetable garden. We have wanted to do it since we were married, but babies came quickly after... so we had to wait a little bit! Here we are and it is so much fun... now I know that soon enough I am going to be getting tired of having to pick in the garden, weed in the garden... so on and so forth... but for now it's pure excitement! I had a client in telling me that the plants are going to need at least 12 in. to grow in, which is more than Scott and I had imagined... so that meant a lowes trip to pick up more wood ties to make a second tier! Scott always loves our lowes runs... we end up looking around a little bit, not too much other wise we'd find things to get that we don't need!Then he had to go and get a couple loads of dirt.

Anyway, we will be planting some tomato plants, maybe some lettuce, zucchini and yellow squash, peas? , green peppers... who knows what else... I need to research some more and see what would work well together.

So this is what it has looked like so far... hard work, shoveling dirt and the dog sitting in our backyard right at the fence watching us!

I can't wait to give you updates on what the garden looks like! Yesterday I was thinking about what I was going to say in the blog about the garden... didn't have much to say, so I waited and thought 'tomorrow afternoon when the kids are down after church I will do some blogging, maybe something cool will come of waiting' ... more than cool... it's AWESOME! Trials, fertilizer and overflow... they are all connected... How? Wait and see.... this morning our family headed out to church, at 9:15 instead of 7:15(all because neither of us were on for worship, which we haven't done for a while) and we were excited about the series we started today... JAMES... we read over the first chapter last week with Eli as one of our devo times... and couldn't wait to hear what was going to be said. James is a great chapter and very challenging... one I can camp on for a WHILE! James 1:2-4Consider it pure joy, mo brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." Trials... none of us like them do we? NO! They aren't fun. Usually they cause a lot of stress, frustration, heartache, and headaches... and man do I hate those headaches! Who wants to endure trials? I don't think anyone wants to ... but are we asked what we want with our lives from the Lord? No! Quick frankly, it's not up to us what our life is going to look like, it's up to God. What does God have to say about what our life is going to look like??? Well as a believer, we are going to face trials... many trials... and we are guaranteed that! Yipee... right? RIGHT! The Lord is talking to us, as believers we are to consider it pure joy! When I think about that, it makes no sense... how do we find joy in our trials... they are hard, they make us miserable many times, and they tire me out? That is where logic is thrown out the door, and faith comes in... We are to trust that the Lord knows exactly what He is up to! And don't you believe that HE knows? If you don't... rest assured, GOD knows what He is up to. When He allows trials in our lives, it is only because He is not finished with us yet. He has created us, and He is not finished with His work... we are a masterpiece that has not been finished... and will not be finished with until we see Jesus face to face! As He allows these trials to come into our lives, He is causing us to learn perseverance/patience. And, in the midst of these trials we are to praise the Lord and say 'thank you God' (that is the joy part!) why? Because He is maturing us and growing us deeper as believers. What will make fruit grow in our garden that we are planing this year? Is it Sun? Yes, that is part. Is it the rain? Yes, that is part. Is it the soil? Yes, that is a part as well. In order for our fruit to grow bountifully it is going to take some good fertilizer. Scott and I thought about using some of our own dirt, but Scott took some time, made some phone calls, and this is what he came up with. We were going to buy some good dirt that already has fertilizer in it for growing gardens! YUP... he's a smart one! ha.... you can laugh, that was supposed to be funny! No, seriously he is smart... I would not have thought to see if there was something like that already out there! (props to my hubby, YOU ROCK!) Well, trials are similar to fertilizer... YUP, they are! You do the math, re-read James 1:2-4 again... what do trails produce? Fruit! Perseverance... let's look up the definition of perseverance... the act of persevering... ok? What is the definition of persevere? It is ' to persist in a state of enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counter influences, opposition, or discouragement... Ok, now lets look up what patience means... it sounds a lot like perseverance right? Patient... bearing pains or trials calmly or without complain: manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain: not hasty or impetuous: steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or diversity:able or willing to bear. Guess what? That is a fruit of the spirit... and the Lord calls us to bear fruit as believers... Gal 5:22... Let's put it all together now... Trials = Fertilizer... without it we wouldn't bear fruit... much like our garden... without all the fertilizer, it wouldn't bear fruit! I LOVE IT! I love how the Lord uses things in my life that are so relevant... to what the Lord is saying to me through our pastor... I never would have thought that blogging about our garden was going to correlate so well with what we were learning in James this week. It's about trials!!! How are trials and gardening going to match up? At least that is what I (my little pea brain) thought, but GOD is bigger... and HE can see the big picture... and HE knew what I was doing this weekend, and what I needed to hear in order to make it relevant to me! How amazing! I am sure He could have made the sermon relevant to me in many other ways, I mean we are talking about trials here... parenting would have been a good one, marriage would have been a good one, every day stress would have been a good one... but the Lord used pastor as an instrument to bring trials to light in a totally different way... fertilizer! Good one God! Tests and trials are for our benefit, much like fertilizer is a benefit to the garden in order to produce fruit. Now how does the word overflow connect with all of this? Well let's take a look, what is you life like right now? What is coming out of you? What is your overflow? If we are not looking to God, and we are caught of in selfishness, caught up in the ways of the world... what is your overflow? Is it... Bitterness? Lies? Foul Talk? Tearing others down? Pleasing selfish desires? Or if you are in submission to the Lord... what is your overflow? Is it... "Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control? Take a minute and ask yourself... 'what is it that I want to overflow out of my life?' Allow your life to be a garden that bears much fruit, remember that fertilizer (trials) is needed in order for you to bear much fruit! So as pastor Andrew said this morning (this is paraphrased) ' let's get out of our high chairs and belly up to the table, it's time for us to go from drinking from a bottle to eating at the table." It is time that we (believers in the Lord) grow up, mature and face our trials... not whining and complaining... but face them with JOY!

What does your garden look like?