I CHOOSE WHAT I SOW. I CHOOSE WHAT I PLANT. I CHOOSE WHAT TO CULTIVATE. I CHOOSE WHAT TO WEED OUT.

I have never been a great gardener but my Mom was. Her gardens were the talk of the neighbourhood. She planted her perennials so that something was always in bloom - right from early spring until late fall. Mom knew the names of all her plants - as if they were her children - and she spent countless hours in her gardens - pulling weeds - moving plants around - making sure the shade plants weren’t in the sun and the sun plants weren’t in the shade. She knew how and when to split the plans and she knew when a plant had run its course.

I do love gardening and in the spring I eagerly await the daffodils and tulips to pop out of the ground. I love their brilliant colours but I don’t like the part where you have to wait to chop off their stems. I love watching for the perennials to flourish but unlike my Momma - I can’t remember their names. And then - things get busy - I’m playing pickle ball - or cycling - or walking with a friend or golfing with Harv - and a few weeks have passed without being in the garden. I’ve neglected things and weeds have sprung up everywhere.

I have to spend hours at a time pulling those weeds and in every direction that I look, there are more and more and more weeds. So often I wish I had spent a little bit of time each day tending my garden rather than neglecting it for weeks and then having to do it all at once. Balance is the key. I wish I had tended the plants and kept them safe from the intruders.

There is an obscure verse found in the Old Testament - written by a man named - Hosea - a prophet who called a spade a spade - so to speak. It says - “Break up your fallow (unplowed) ground - for it is time to seek the Lord - until He comes and showers righteousness on you.” The word - fallow - comes from the old English word for plowing - and refers to the practice of leaving fields unplowed for a period of time. When a field is unplowed, the soil is left alone to rest and regenerate but when left in this condition, it often becomes overgrown with thistles and weeds. The farmer should be careful to “break up” the fallow ground - to clear the field of weeds before sewing seed in it once again. This speaks right to my heart. Action on my part is required.

I choose to take the seeds of truth and sow them into the soil of right living into my life.

First things first - breaking up the unplowed ground. Not literally - but in my life. I need to address certain areas of my life. I need to break up the ugly areas. I need to get rid of some blockages that are hindering me. Things like - ingratitude - pride - envy - hypocrisy - a critical spirit - impatience. I know - all too well - the weedy things that intrude in my heart and seek to choke me. I am impatient. I don’t like it when people are late. I don’t like being held up in traffic. I don’t like it when others who are playing ahead of me on the golf course are slow. I don’t like getting behind a car in the drive-through line when I’m only ordering a coffee and their van is ordering for 7 people. Notice that all of the previous statements start with “I don’t like?” It’s selfish of me.

I must learn more about grace and understanding and then put those truths into practice in my life. If you have a good friend or sibling or spouse or partner who will be honest with you and if you are strong enough to listen - ask them what things in your life are needing “fallowing”. You probably know those things already but it’s easier to ignore them rather than dealing with them. It’s easier to cast the blame on someone or something else rather than making changes in one’s own life.

Secondly - seek the Lord! I could never, no never, survive this life without my faith. My journey has always been an adventure with God guiding me through hills and valleys - through the ups and the downs - through marriage and parenthood - now grand-parenting and my “golden years”!

In the summer of 2015, one year after Randy passed away, I was eagerly seeking for the next thing in my life. I was 57 years old, a widow, wondering and praying about my future. I didn’t want to go ahead of the Lord but I also didn’t want to lag behind. I was teaching piano and voice lessons and fitness classes but I also thought I should do something with a steady pay cheque. I applied for some ministry positions but nothing came to be. I considered buying a B&B in eastern Ontario as I love people and food and I thought that combo would be great. But once again - there were stop signs so I didn’t proceed with this option. My Mom counselled me to wait and pray.

Waiting is not stagnant. Waiting involves action. Lots of seeking God’s Word - the Bible - lots of praying and lots of counsel. Very soon after this period of waiting and seeking - at just the right time - God used mutual friends to introduce Harv and I - and - six months after we first started dating - we got married. What a gift Harv is to me. What a gift to have a second opportunity for marriage.

It is God who brings about the fruit of the Spirit in my life - I could never produce them on my own. It doesn’t come natural to be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

Thirdly - righteousness will be showered on me! This little verse that Hosea wrote thousands of years ago - comes with a promise. When I break up the unplowed ground - when I seek the Lord’s help - then and only then - will the heavens open and righteousness will be showered on me - and on you too. What joy! What peace! What comfort! It’s there for the taking.

Mother Teresa wrote -

“People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centred - forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives - be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies - succeed anyway. If you are honest and open, people may cheat you - be honest and open anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight - build anyway. If you feel serenity and happiness, people may be jealous - be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow - do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough - give it anyway. You see in the final analysis it is between you and God - it was never between you and them anyway.

IT ALL BEGINS WITH A CHOICE. CHOOSE WISELY.