As parents we are concerned with getting our kids to eat vegetables to help keep them in good health. Many times to ensure having a supply of fresh, preferably organically grown veggies we have our own home gardens, either in the backyard or in pots strategically placed where the plants can catch the sun and rain.
We keep our children (and ourselves) healthy in other ways, too. Here are some other gardens we can plant. There is the Garden of the Mind in which we can plant positive, uplifting thoughts. There is the Garden of the Soul in which we can plant love for God, love for reflective silence, and desire for the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). And there is the Garden of Life in which we should not only plant peas, squash, lettuce, turnips and thyme but grow together with the plants. It is in these gardens that we learn how to treasure God’s gifts of sunlight and rain, of working with Him to nourish and fertilize the good plants while removing the unwanted weeds.
Life’s a Garden
Plant three rows of peas (peace):
Peas of mind
Peas of heart
Peas of soul.
Plant four rows of squash:
Squash gossip
Squash indifference
Squash grumbling
Squash selfishness.
Plant four rows of lettuce (let us):
Lettuce be faithful
Lettuce be kind
Lettuce be happy
Lettuce really love one another.
No garden should be without turnips (turn up):
Turnip for service when needed
Turnip to help one another
Turnip the music and dance.
Water freely with patience and Cultivate with love.
Your garden is abundant, because you reap what you sow.
To conclude our garden we must have thyme (time):
Thyme for fun
Thyme for rest
Thyme for ourselves.
Pretty nice garden, don’t you think?
