Our Very First Garden

The Plan. Teacher mommy and little pilgrims billow with hope as they write out the plan for their first garden.The Place is not inviting. The curse is remembered “Cursed is the ground because of you; (Adam) through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.” Gen. 3:17-19They work in the hot sun preparing the soil. An hour later perseverance and exhaustion battle. Exhaustion leads to irritability. Children waver…mommy chooses the route of encouragement and praise. It works – Perseverance wins!The stones are removed for we are reminded of the parable of the sower. “Some seed fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly…but when the sun came up, the plants were scorched.” Matt. 13:5. The seeds are measured and dropped into their nests and teacher mommy reminds the children, God says: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” 2 Cor. 9:6

And so the pilgrims sow and sow and sow, for they desire an abundant harvest.

Hope is born in children’s hearts. Lessons are taught as dirty hands dig and sweaty brows drip. Teacher mommy quotes one of her favorite verses: “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24 Children are reminded how they are like the seeds, someday they will produce many more seeds if they are willing to be used by God. Life is a garden. We plan, we toil, we sow, we die to self and we wait on God for the increase.

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting…

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Heb. 11:1

The rain comes and comes 7 straight days in Ohio, the sun does not shine and the seeds do not sprout. The seedlings are beaten down and weary. Will there be a harvest?

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Heb.11:6
Teacher mommy reminds children “you have sown generously now be patient – your reward is coming.”

And then it happens, the sprouting of corn, the row of lettuce appears overnight, 10 green cherry tomatoes appear and the pinnacle – a ripe strawberry!

Persevere in faith, sweet Christian sister. Sow generously – Indeed rewards are coming.

Walk with the King!

36 Comments

  1. This is a great post. Love the photos. Doesn't a garden offer so many spiritual illustrations! I think the little pilgrims will get a lot from having to tend that garden as well, when it offers up weeds among their little plants.

  2. Gosh Courtney. You really shouldn't do that to us…lookin' all cute while working in the dirt with just a pink tee and your hair put up 🙂

  3. I LOVE this!!!!!!!!!! We are planning on starting a garden as well…oh teacher mommy, what a beautiful spirit you have! You encourage us all!!!!!!!!

  4. Thank you for being such an encouragement and Godly example.
    You sew far more seeds then you will ever knowe

  5. As always, what an encouraging post! Reminds me of Hosea 10:12 "sow with a view to righteousness, read in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD until he comes to rain righteousness on you." As a farmer's daughter, I've learned many lessons working in the field, and those I treasure most are ones "rooted" in Scripture! Word pictures are needed for this gal to get the message, and I love how Christ revealed so much through parables!

  6. good grief… you are gorgeous, even in the garden! beyond that the lesson in this post is great too!!

  7. Oops..that should be "reap" not "read," although I'm sure we should read with kindness as well. 🙂

  8. Just watched your video on intimacy in marriage and wanted to say THANK YOU! Thank you for being honest about your own life in order that we might be strengthened in ours. Thank you for being available to God. I enjoy your page and always learn and grow from something here every day.

  9. Beautiful post! I love it! I love that you said, exhaustion gives way to irritability but encouragement and praise leads to perseverance winning!

    AMEN AMEN AMEN!!!

  10. Courtney, your kids are just beautiful! And so is your garden : ) Can't wait to see the upcoming posts of all the fresh, yummy veggies!

  11. Awesome. I hope we can have a garden. Living on a military base has it's perks, gardening isn't always one of those. 😉 We would have been able to do it in Missouri, but this tour in Europe, we live OFF base and no garden for us. I'm not sure what our new duty assignment is going to bring!

  12. I love how you use an every day situation and turn it into a lesson from the Bible. You're awesome!

  13. Looks like so much fun! I wonder if my little one would like to do something like that? Thanks, for the inspiration!

  14. Such a precious post!! And what adorable pilgrims you have there!!!

    I hope you keep us posted on your garden. 😀

    ~Kristi

  15. Awesome! I didn't know you lived in Ohio, so do I! Thankfully we have gotten just enough rain down here in the Cincinnati area.

  16. What a beautiful way to teach children about the Lord and gardening all at the same time!

    I have to remember this post next summer when we will be doing our garden!!!!

    Thanks for being a inspiration for us all!

    Blessing
    Renee

  17. Congratulations on your first garden Momma. *smile* What fun you all shall have planting, and reaping … so happy for you. *smile* I enjoy gardening and sometimes think I ought to do more so we could be more "self-sufficient". A little at a time though. *smile* With a five year old and a three year old, I don't weed what I have much. *smile/sigh* I hear using straw or old cut grass on the garden helps keep the weeds down. Just thought I would share. *smile* Also, with tomatos try to clip the lower limbs so they don't touch the ground, that will help the production of the plant. *smile* That's about all I can think of to share for now. *smile* I wish you all the best! And, I am joining in the "summer challange" just thought I would let you know. *smile* Thanks for changing my focus to my beloved physical leader in my home. *smile* Sincerely, Mommy of two little blessings & so much more!

  18. Good luck with your garden!

    We have a huge one out back, and I'm reminded of the curse all the time. Ugh! We've had lots of rain here too, and the weeds really enjoy it. But I do think it's a great lesson for the kiddos, and we enjoy the yummies too!

  19. Awesome. Love the example of bringing out scripture related to the garden (parable of the sower esp.).

    What a great teaching opportunity!

  20. Odd question, but how did you get rid of the blogger bar at the top of your blog? I would like to get it off my blog and can't seem to find what it's called in the coding. Thanks. Mommy of two little blessings & so much more!

  21. I've just come in from our own vegetable plot. I'm aching, but very, very content. We worked so hard today – weeding, planting, and some re-potting.
    We began growing our own about 3 years ago, and it's been such a wonderful experience for us. I've written about it a couple of times on my own blog. The satisfaction is amazing. And our thankfulness to God when we sit to eat a plate with loads of our own home-growns…. wonderful!
    So – huge encouragement here. Keep going, and your kids will soon have the 'bug bite' too.
    I'd planned to write a blog tonight specifically about 'weeding' and the spiritualising of it – the things i was thinking of today in our plot. I may leave it 'til Monday – I'm shattered!
    Love your blog,
    Love, Anne (in Scotland) x

  22. What a great post! We are in the process of waiting for our garden to produce, so I read the verses to my kids. Thanks!

  23. Reminds me when, I did a garden with toddlers. It was a lot to keep them from throwing seeds everywhere. Glad it turned out to be a possitive experiance. They remember it still. We didn´t get much up but the tomatoes were awesome.

    Hope you have a lovely garden. It sure is an awesome experiance for them! Way to encourage!

    DAni Joy

  24. We were first-time gardeners last year and were told that 'God blesses first-time gardeners' – God abundantly blessed us last year! We had a great harvest! We had a few problems here and there, but we cetainly learned a lot. This year, not so much. Sadly, none of my seedlings survived, so we planted mostly from seed. I think we'll be adding some more seedlings from the nursery this week. We had a torential rain less than 48 hours after we seeded, so we think many were washed away – there's some evidence to that as some things are popping up where they were not planted! Our cukes and pumpkins are groing very well this year, but our herbs are severely lacking. Tomatoes and peppers are starting and we may be getting some lettuce and carrots. Every time I go out to wander, I pray that God will continue to bless it and that He will provide us with a good harvest.

    As for the rocks, boy do I wish we could remove them! Our soil is very rocky and no matter how many we remove, it always seems as there are twice as many to replace them.

    May your garden be blessed! Heather

  25. Courtney this is just wonderful, as I read your post I thought "10 days of rain- oh no sis- that is just wonderful!" it is just what your seeds need & it hit me "10 days of rain" in my perspective is very different from the intent and effect of God's- thank you
    I love your garden 🙂

  26. Blessings Abound – I apologize I don't know the answer to your question – I had my blog page build by Lindsey Designs…so I'm not sure how she did it?
    Courtney

  27. You inspired us to start our first veggie garden! I read the post to my husband–he loved all your scripture references. We read them to the kids and then got out in the heat to plant!
    Thanks for your always encouraging, godly example!

  28. Lizzy – that's GREAT! Thanks for sharing! Your kids are going to love reaping the harvest – my kids are so excited!
    Courtney

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