Towards the end of summer the garden starts to look a little wonky. The hot and humid days are the perfect breeding ground for disease and pests. The ground is dry and perpetually needs watering. My tomatoes turn from not quite ripe to overdone in a blink of an eye. It’s the time of the year when I start looking at my garden, and have to actively fight the urge to ripe it all out and start again.
The reality is with our first frost date of early October in Wisconsin, I could really only replant radishes and lettuce. Don’t get me wrong, I could make one killer salad but I would also miss out on vine ripened tomatoes, roasted eggplant, crunchy sugar snap peas, beautiful bouquets, and so much more.
So, I try and over look the worn parts of the garden and continue the hard & good work. Once again learning from my garden to be diligent in the small things while I wait for the abundance to come.
Just like my garden, my heart and life are feeling a little bit dry and weary in this season. When COVID-19 first appeared I was in Florida on vacation with my family. I remember seeing the news and thinking it was blown out of proportion and if anything would blow over in a few weeks. Here we are more than 6 months later and in a new reality of face masks, social distancing, canceled events, quarantine, virtual school & activities, Zoom calls, and regular COVID testing.
In the midst of this COVID Pandemic we have been facing heartbreaking social injustice, a turbulent election, and countless unknowns in schools, schedules, and life. Just one of these things can be challenging, but combined they can often feel overwhelming and make our hearts weary.
Friend, I don’t know what you are going through, what challenges you face or what your views are with all that goes on in the world today. I’m not here to tell you what to do, but instead to listen, learn, and share a little encouragement and hope.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9
This verse in Galatians sits on a tiny stand on my desk. A reminder in this season (and all year really) to put one foot in front of the other and walk in the calling I have received. Some days are a whole lot easier than others. I’ve learned to give myself grace during this time and know that my productivity might look different. To know that sometimes true purpose & productivity can’t be measured by tasks accomplished or items checked off a to-do list.
The world around us is changing at an ever increasing speed, but what does not change in this season is my calling. To LOVE GOD & SERVE OTHERS in every season, in every action, and in every way. Sometimes it looks like putting aside the to-do list to listen to a teammate and other times it means taking a big leap of faith to start a new project or follow through with a dream. The size of the calling and good works isn’t what matters here, but our hearts.
So my friends, wherever you find yourself, I want to encourage you to not give up in your good work, whatever it may be. Whether that is navigating virtual school with your kiddos, tacking a new project at work, writing, hosting a bible study, tacking the laundry pile, or resisting ripping out your actual garden.
Don’t try to do it all today; remember apples don’t grow from seed to fruit overnight my friend. Instead, choose just one small step of obedience that you can accomplish this week and then share that with a friend (or in the comments below!). We are not made to live our lives or carry out our callings alone. Strength comes when we open up our lives and hearts to community around us. Friend, the bravest thing you can do today is to step forward into where you are called to be.
Nourish and Grow:
- What have you been called to do in this season?
- Where is your heart and soul weary?
- What would your small step of obedience look like today?
- Who can share your heart with and be encouraged?
