First Baptist Church of Herndon

The Planting Season

Linda Soller | May 13, 2013

May is here and so is the planting season, unless you live in one of those states like Colorado which seems to be stuck in winter. Fortunately here in northern Virginia it feels like spring, looks like spring, and smells like spring. It is hard to describe the smell of spring, but wet dirt with a touch of onions is pretty close. I am not a farmer. The extent of my planting is usually limited to pots filled with plants that someone has graciously grown to an acceptable eye appealing size. Sometimes I branch out to the gardens scattered about my yard. Unfortunately the weeds have usually gotten there first. The weeds and the deer have an insidious agreement that what one doesn’t choke out the other will eat. The result is a ragged looking mess of miscellaneous vegetation and tulip stems whose blossoms have been neatly bitten off with “razor sharp precession.” 

The other day I headed to the nursery to purchase plants for the pots in front of my house and those on my deck. Surprisingly the full cart of plants I paid for didn’t really seem like much once planted. I’m not sure what I expected. That is not true, I expected a transformation, but what I got was a little color, (a very little color.) My small rock gardens on the deck are simply adorable. Not really a good thing since they seem to be very attractive to the adorable chipmunks thriving in tunnels all over my yard. The chipmunks have yet to realize that they are actually too big to dig in the rock garden, since they are seldom too big for anything, and when they dig the dirt the adorable plants go flying. Did I happen to mention how expensive the adorable plants are?

Please don’t get the wrong idea, I love the planting season. If I take enough allergy medicine I can actually stay outside and enjoy the sun without being bitten by the mosquitoes who apparently find me to be a tasty treat once summer arrives. Ahh! The planting season is truly special. I think I would like it even better if I could figure out how to do it all better. If only I could master this planting stuff, then I could no doubt sit on my deck and watch the adorable chipmunks scurry about the yard without a care in the world.

There are similarities between planting a garden and planting faith. If you are familiar with the “Parable of the Sower” found in Matthew chapter 13 of the Bible then you know that planting faith requires some understanding. You can focus on the “impressive showy short term impact” of what you sow or you can embrace the long term solutions. You can plant seeds and walk away or nurture them through the difficult weather. You can plant where others can see your results, ignoring the hidden corners. Or you can plant where no one chooses to look and know that everyone will feel the difference.  In sowing faith we recognize that the world around us, much like the deer and the weeds, can destroy.  But faith, like our garden will survive with our perseverance and patience. It is May, the planting season, a time when your faith can sprout and flourish, despite the adorable chipmunks!

 Have a great week :o) Linda