A Gardener’s Soul

The Earth is Full of the Goodness of the Lord. ~Psalm 33:5

  This scripture speaks to my gardening soul.  It softly whispers to my heart, and is a constant reminder to give thanks for the abudance of the garden.  I have precious memories of being in the garden as a child with my mom, and also with my grandma.  Tagging along, forever curious, forever wondering, watching as they toiled over garden chores.  Grandma always seemed to have the tastiest tomatoes that were often served as a simple lunch on softly colored floral melamine plates.  Plump, deep red with a thick, sweet wonderful skin; the sweet-tart explosions of flavor popping on my young tongue, my small frame sitting up tall at her farmhouse table, are memories dear to me, that I savor as much as the sweet-tart memories of my childhood.  The embroidered, or hand-painted tablecloth that always graced Grandma’s kitchen table embellished with roosters, or flowers was always a constant.  I find it remarkable that even though my grandparents lived a simple life;  Grandma was a homesteader by heart, and also necessity, a wife, mother, dairy farmer, organic gardener, just to name a few of the hats she wore in her lifetime, her home always reflected a quiet, simple beauty that was her own.  Her mother’s oil paintings hung on the walls.  Her mother’s name was Daisy, but always known to me as Nana.  I never met Nana, yet I feel I know her through her art, and the love that has always been reflected in stories and rememberances of her.  I remember seeds in envelopes.  My mom always had seeds for flowers, or veggies that her Grandmas, neighbors, or friends, had shared with her, or that she was sharing with someone else.  Grandma also had seeds in envelopes, stored in her dining room buffet, promise waiting for the next season, lying quietly dormant and still until their time to bloom. I loved peeking in the envelopes with curiosity and wonder, pondering how this tiny, often drably colored little seed would explode into a colorful showcase full of beauty and intensity that could always rock my world.  The envelopes of seeds remind me of the promise of God’s love.  Quiet, peaceful, waiting with expectant grace, forever ready to bloom into a full, passionate love with intensity beyond our wildest imaginations, or expectations. Fully, completly nourishing, all encompassing love.  Brought forth by gentle nurturing, yet always there, waiting, all encompassing, dormant in the earth of our souls, as a seed in soil. What a perfect design.  As I reflect on the abundance and joy of last year’s garden season, I am blessed to realize that the goodness of the earth comes from the above, and His divine love blossoms in the fertility of my soul.  God’s creation, the earth, is an amazing wonder.

~Blessings from a gardener’s soul~

May the stillness of winter bring forth the blosssoms of God’s love in the springtime fertility of the soul.