The Blog

Thank you very much to Faithful Gardener, our Guest Writer for this week! 

For the last three years, at the start of garden season, I have had an extreme enthusiasm to start planting and get my hands in the dirt. I finish well past the sun going down to plant my new flowers, amend the soil and switch around my perennials.  When I work in my garden, it is as if time stands still and laundry doesn’t exist.

One of my plant purchases this year was a variegated Virginia Creeper called “Star Showers”. What a stunner! I am a sucker for vines and all things variegated. I had never seen that before in a garden center and after a couple of days of thinking it over, I purchased it. It was so pretty and it was well on its way to covering up a boring fence.

Month two into garden season, my enthusiasm was waning, and by waning I mean almost at a standstill. It was really, really hot, plus meals needed to be made, work and laundry needed to get done. To my husband’s delight, tracking in mud came to a stop. Watering continued but not with the same diligence and fervor as before. I was letting my garden slide.

One day while I was watering my garden, I noticed my “Star Showers” Vine. To my horror, something was eating it. It was being destroyed.  But it wasn’t stopping at the vine, it went for my Echinacea Flowers as well, my garden stalwarts! With a frantic search on the internet, I found out it was the Japanese Beetle. Then came the frantic search to find out how to get rid of the beetle and I went from garden center to hardware store to find the remedy. I sprayed a Neem Oil and soap combo on my plants and individually took off each beetle as they were munching.  Alas, the bugs were gone but the damage was done.

The vine and those beetles really got me thinking. How many times has that happened when I cross over the line from being in a good routine, to cruise control to apathy mixed with a tad of laziness that things get damaged beyond repair? You know the whole “stitch in time thing” really came to mind.

It also reminded me of John 10:10 –

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” 

I let my guard down and plants were destroyed. It stole a lot of joy each time I passed by that area, which became a real discouragement. 

Of course, this is a garden, and although important, it provided a reminder of more important things.

• Taking care of my fitness before things get too far gone.
• Making sure I am staying in tune with my family’s needs even when busy or having fun doing something else.
• Being a good steward of what God has given me. It takes a lot of time to earn money, I need to take good care of the things that I buy. 

It’s funny the little and big things you can learn along the way of everyday life, often when you least expect it. Although the vine and side garden were a bust this year, I am thankful for the reminder to be proactive and to be a good steward of the people and things I have in my life. I want to be on my guard for sneak attacks by asking for His wisdom and daily reading God’s word for His warnings and blessings.

– Faithful Gardener, Guest Blogger

Thank you Faithful Gardener for sharing your wisdom on how we need to be on guard and look after what we have been entrusted with. May God richly bless you for sharing with us.

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