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GailFriends - Mystery Plant
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GailFriends - Mystery Plant
By Gail Golden
Publicist and Ministry Partner - Pocket Full of Change Ministries
It was my first attempt at gardening. Inspired to grow my own vegetables after sampling my friend Brenda’s delicious tomatoes and cucumbers, I asked her help in growing my own. I followed her directions faithfully, preparing the garden bed, fertilizing it, and planting my seeds. That night I lay in bed listening to the rain patting my roof (and my new garden) and imagined the salad I’d make with my own home grown spinach, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. Much to my dismay, when I visited my garden the next morning, many of the seeds were floating between the rows. I repaired the damage as best I could and prayed for a good harvest.
Over the next few weeks, my veggies began to sprout and grow. The lettuce and the tomatoes did well, but the cucumbers and spinach rows had no sprouts at all. Brenda said they might sprout eventually and to give them time. I checked on them daily, but nothing happened.
After about two weeks, I noticed a sprout coming up and rejoiced in the new growth. Because the seed packets were long gone, I wasn’t sure if they were spinach or cucumbers.
For one thing, the sprouts were coming up between the rows. I assumed the heavy rain on the first night of planting had scattered the seeds, so I left them alone to mature.
The sprouts took off and grew quite large, then began to put off runners. Cucumbers, I thought and mentally began to imagine making pickles! But over the next few days, I realized these didn’t look like any cucumbers I had ever seen. But, being inexperienced, I just kept weeding the rows, watering the plants, and watching for garden pests.
The plants that sprouted in between the rows grew quickly, to the point that I decided they needed support. I put a stick beside them, and tied string to support the runners. Other ones sprouted and I pampered and nurtured them, digging them up and planting them in neat rows. I took a picture of my happy little plants and e-mailed it to my gardening friend, Brenda. She wrote back saying that it didn’t look like a cucumber to her.
Perhaps it’s a squash, I thought. But I hadn’t planted squash. Maybe a seed had blown into the yard. I was stumped, but since the plant looked vaguely familiar, I continued to take very good care of it along with my other vegetables. My tomatoes sprouted and grew well. My lettuce grew bountifully, but the “mystery” mystery produced nothing.
One day as I weeded the flower beds along my back fence, I noticed a plant that looked familiar. I looked at it closely to find my mystery plant wasn’t a squash, but a wild vine that grew along the fence in my backyard. No wonder it looked familiar.
That afternoon, I dug up all the mystery plants in my vegetable garden. As I worked, I regretted all the time I’d wasted nurturing something that would never bear fruit. Finishing the job, I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit as He reminded me of the recent struggle I’d had with giving up a character defect in myself. Like the weed, I had nurtured my independent, strong willed spirit and been proud of it all of my life. While it was true that many times those character traits saved my life, I am sad to report that most of the time I decided on a plan of action and then asked God to bless it. Needless to say, the results were not good.
God gently showed me there must be balance in my life. He wanted me to trust in Him, not my self-will. That lesson began a change in my life. Instead of trusting my own mind and strength, I began to seek His Word and His will before I took action. The results have brought the wonderful fruits of the Spirit, and the best fruit is peace.
Gail is a ministry partner with and Publicist for Pocket Full of Change Ministries. For more information, to schedule a speaker for an event, or to request a newsletter, go to www.pocketfullofchange.org or call Gail Golden, Publicist at 904 316-5462. This ministry is supported by donations. If this ministry helps you or others, and God calls you to help support this work, you can make a donation to Pocket Full of Change Ministry at POB 51205, Jacksonville Beach, Florida 32240.
© Pocket Full of Change Ministries
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