GODENER

"The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;"   Lamentations 3:25

GODENER: A person with dirt under his fingernails,

          Jesus in his heart and a burning desire to cultivate

                       a deeper relationship with his God.

Godeners till gardens but know God created soil.

Godeners plant seeds but know God makes them sprout.

Godeners water plants but know God makes it rain.

Godeners fertilize lawns but know God makes them green.

Godeners rise early but know God woke them up.

Godeners plan days but know God plans eternity.

Lou Marshall

January 18, 2012

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."     Jeremiah 29:11

EIGHT MORE SHOPPING DAYS ‘TILL SURGERY

“If my house were not right with God, surely he would not have made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part; surely he would not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire.                                         2 Samuel 23:5

     While finishing up breakfast this morning, we received a telephone call from Dr. Patterson’s office advising us that the arrival time for next Friday is 8:30 am with the expected surgery to begin around 11:30.  I envisioned consciousness and pain to arrive around mid afternoon. I’m not sure about dinner.

     Actually, I am looking forward to this surgery with such a different outlook that it is kind of scary.  I made an “it’s almost already finished” list.  I’m getting my yard, my garden and my life in order.  Is my house right with God?
     Simply put, yes and no.  From a spiritual perspective, yes, I know that when I die I will go to heaven and see Jesus sooner than you.  Being in the flesh, I would want to spend more time with my wife, Kat, my garden and Central Church. I want to sing in the choir and be in the Koinonia class.  There are a lot of places to see and things to do and Kat and I have plans for doing them. We all have plans but not all of us have planned to leave this earth
     God has been more than ‘good to me’. He revealed Himself through the forgiveness of my sins and He set a new path before me; a pathway through the ‘garden of life’ that I would never have anticipated. At the end of that path, God has prepared my true home, Heaven.  God has made with me ‘an everlasting covenant’.

“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalm 23:5

 Gardening tip: During the ‘off season’ is a good time to clean, repair or replace your tools for next season.

THE TREE THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN

     For a great number of years my little brother, Rickey, and I pruned limbs from ‘The tree’. Not only the brothers but other relatives and a host of neighbors and friends have had, over the past thirty-odd years, the distinct pleasure of gathering the aftermath from storms that tossed tree parts on Moms’ roof, in her yard and occasionally a visiting car got a ding or two.
     Rick and I apologized for, years, for ever having planted ‘The tree’ there in the first place. I would be remiss if I did not include the year when a sizable share of ‘The tree’ actually took out a part of the now-enclosed back porch.  But that was another time and another story for the insurance company, who asked Mom, “Why did you plant ‘The tree’ so close to the house in the first place?”

     “The tree”, as Mother always called it, was planted on a special occasion with much thought and love, but, obviously, with precious little research or precaution  The most scientific research was to confirm the generally held common knowledge that the sun sets in the west.  It was further deduced that by planting the tree on the southwest corner of the house, the tree would provide a precious portion of shade for the converted back porch-TV room.  Shade would measurably lower Moms’ utility bill. One of us all knowing siblings also suggested that since trees grow so slowly, planting the tree closer to the house would provide shade sooner. 

     While all that was true, it did not offset the fact that the tree is a miserable ‘weeper’. Weepers cover almost anything and everything within one hundred feet with its sorry sap. That one hundred feet would include the roof, house, windows, Mom’s car and visitors unaware.  Then when the storms came and the wind blew, not only did the cradle rock but in fact the boughs did break and covered Mothers’ roof with enough firewood to make it through the next winter.  The TV antenna is another issue not to be discussed at the present.

     For days after the outside storm had diminished, the storm still stirred inside the little house on top of the hill.  We would receive the dreaded dressing down for having planted ‘The tree’ too close to the house in the first place.  Well, maybe not the first place as the first place question had always been, “Why did you get that kind of tree, in first place?” Yes, that’s right, the ‘first thing’ was the kind of tree. Next, the nature of the tree with the sappy issues.  Then there is the fact that when the beautiful but stinky blossoms left their lofty perch, they inevitably landed on Mom's ever-freshly washed car. Mom's car was almost always parked somewhere on the driveway, under the tree and next to the carport. Yes, we got it from more than one direction as did ‘The tree’.

     Mom is gone now but ‘The tree’ still stands. ‘The tree’ is not so much a reminder of all the limbs we pulled out of the yard or off the house but the love two boys had for their mom. That, Mom, is why we planted ‘The tree’ there in the first place.

     Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!  For His mercy endures forever.   Psalm 136:1

Gardening ‘Life’ tip:  “Lift your eyes to the Lord of the heavens and ask Him to shower your love relationship with grace. He is the One who enables you to love. It is He who gives you more ability to love if you ask Him. May His love encompass you and your beloved today."  (Couples Connections, 1/12/2012 Amy Morris)

     He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, like showers that water the earth.  Psalm 72:6

     “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.    PSALM 136: 1

GREENS AND THE PORTABLE PHONE

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.   Philippians 4:13

     Many years ago, before cell phones, we had gotten Mom a portable-wireless phone so that she could roam the house, hang clothes on the line, or go to the garden with her new wireless phone in her apron pocket.

     One day she was out in the garden ‘picking a few greens’.  She fell. Now, Mom was not too far from the ground to begin with due to her being vertically challenged. She had also acquired over the years, some God given padding for such a mishap. And, the garden soil is somewhat forgiving toward those who hurriedly make contact with its greens covered surface.

     Finding herself not hurt except for her pride, there was no one there to observe, so, that aspect did not come into play.  Next chore . . . getting up.  Mom was in her eighties, still active and still working, sitting with old women, as she called it. .  However, having fallen and couldn’t get up, she needed assistance to arise from the surface of the garden upon which she lay.  Nothing seemed close enough to hold onto to right herself. 

     Her younger son, Rickey, who lived next door on the farm, was not at home.  The portable phone was of no value.  My baby sister, Pat, lived several miles away on the other side of town but when she called they did not answer; she was not home. We lived ‘in the city’, an hour and a half away. Alone and down in the greens, Mom had very little help from the phone.  She shared with us later, “I just rolled over and picked some more greens”. 

     On her knees, with a sack full of greens, she worked her way down to the end of the row.  There, at the edge of the garden, she had always planted some castor beans. They kept some type of invaders out of her vegetable reserve.  The castor plants were over six feet tall and sturdier than a corn stalk. Reaching the saving stalk, Mom was able to regain her preferred position, vertical.

     Often, in life, we find ourselves ‘down in the greens’.  At the end of the row or at the ‘end of the day’ we should have planted the salvation more powerful than a beanstalk.  Jesus is always there, in the form of His spirit, to lift us up, dust us off, and present us before God, spotless and clean.  We don’t need a portable phone, a cell phone or any other devise; we have prayer; a direct line to heaven.

      “All this I have spoken while still with you.  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”  JOHN 14:25-26

Gardening tip: A padded kneeling board with handles which inverts to a sitting surface is a really good garden pal.

IT'S ALMOST ALREADY FINISHED

       ”Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest”.  JOHN 4:35

     Many of us have said, “When I get through the holidays, I’m going to . . . .”  Well, we are through the holidays and what was it that you were going to do?  I’m just suggesting that we put all that rhetoric aside, roll up our selves and have a go at it.

     One of the things that can be done to accomplish more and in an orderly fashion is to make an ‘It’s almost already finished’ list.  AND, get it done today or tomorrow!

     You can’t dig up all the weeds at one time and you can’t relocate all the plants in one day.  So, do yourself a favor and jot down the first four or five things you aught to do today or tomorrow, then, decide which one to do first, then second and so on.   If you have a particularly difficult or loathsome task on that list, do it first.  Having it out of the way makes for clearer thinking and an altogether different outlook for the rest of the day.

     There is a small book out that suggests the following approach to organizing ones’ day: if you have to eat a frog tomorrow, it is best if it is done early in the morning, thereby freeing up the rest of the day for a more pleasant day. And, if you have two frogs to eat. . . eat the ugliest one first. (Interpretation mine.)  Have a great 'frog less' day.

      Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  JAMES 4:14

Gardening tip: Keep your tools ready; clean and organized.  Winter is a good time to do that in the protection of the garage.

EVEN THE SPARROW HAS FOUND A HOME

     Even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself, PSALM 84:3

    Mama had a pair of house wrens that built a nest some place around her back door every year.  One year, they nested in the edge of her hanging basket filled with purple petunias.  Another year, they actually nested in her storage room just off the parking area at the back door. They seemed to want to be close to her.  Her home was their home.
     We all desire to find a place to call home. Most of us want a place to rest. This is a basic need for me and almost every person I know.  But, there always seems to be something else, no matter where we are or what we have. 
     There seems something outside the walls of who we are that requires satisfying.  I haven’t found it, have you?  Is it to be in the absolute presence of God?  It is a never ending search for that which the soul finds restful or peaceful? Do we only find that closeness within the walls of our church or synagogue? 
     Are we, too, trying to build our nest close to the altar or at the foot of the cross? “Nearer my God to Thee”, we often hear in that old familiar hymn.  We, too, need to be closer to the cross of Christ.  Let us seek Him daily within the shadow of the cross that our hearts might find peace and our souls cease it’s searching.  He is there; arms open wide, waiting for us to find our way home. 

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” LUKE 15:20b

 Gardening tip: There are plants in almost every garden that have been previously parked and now need to ‘find their homes’ during the ‘resting time of winter’.

AT HIS FEET

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  LUKE 10:42 (NIV)

     Winter will soon wane and spring will certainly come soaring in on the wings of March winds and amidst the mist of April showers.  We gardeners have many choices to consider before taking action in April.
     Martha was busy preparing the meal, while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus.  You know the rest of the story. Martha comes and asked Jesus to send Mary to help her, but Jesus tells Martha that Mary has made a choice. 
     Each of us, each day, make choices and those choices have consequences. Consider the choices you will you make today.  In your garden, will your choice of actions show those who cross your path the reflection of Christ in your life? Christ choice the cross.  Let your choices reflect His.

“Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.” LUKE 10:42b

 Gardening tip:  Spend much time in your catalog this winter before you enter your garden in the spring.

GLORY STORY

“The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him.”  PROVERBS 18:17

     In your garden, the telling of tales and boasting of accomplishments is usually followed by a bigger or better story. You have heard, “the first man doesn’t have a chance”.  In the case of us gardeners, someone always has a better story or a bigger watermelon.

     When it comes to discussions of God or Jesus, the first person is usually recounting the gifts, grace or blessings he or she has received, including salvation. Someone else might question the origins of existence, reiterating topics like the “Big Bang” theory; fossil remains of “pre-human” existence; etc. We must resist the argument, stick with our story. 

     How was life before you “came to Christ”?  How has your life changed since then? What question you choose to address is strictly up to you…it is your story about how Christ or God has changed your life.  It’s not head knowledge about anything Biblical or religious, your story is relating the changes in your heart, changes in your thoughts and changes in the behavior in your life.

     Give Him the glory through your story and let the others believe what they want.  Plant a seed through your testimony and let the Holy Spirit work at conviction and conversion.

                  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

                     the new creation has come. 

                          The old has gone,

                            the new is here!

                       2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

Gardening tip: When it snows, knock the beautiful white stuff off evergreens and shrubs.  If the snow gets wet and freezes, the extra weight might break the twigs and limbs as they are more brittle in cold weather.