Be Like a Garden

I've just returned from ten days out-of-country as I led a team for Buckner International to Kenya.  This morning I am still clearing cobwebs from my jet-lagged mind and adjusting my body clock back to normal.  I am also doing my perfunctory duty of wading through the myriad of emails stubbornly awaiting my perusal, and I'm reminded of how much meaningless communication comes across my screen on a regular basis.  However, I read a few minutes ago one of my favorite blogs and it prompted some thoughts I have decided to share with my cyber-friends.  The blog is Seth Godin's and his musings about the difference between buildings and gardens strike me as extremely applicable to our lives as disciples:

"Great projects start out feeling like buildings. There are architects, materials, staff, rigid timelines, permits, engineers, a structure.

It works or it doesn't.

Build something that doesn't fall down. On time.

But in fact, great projects, like great careers and relationships that last, are gardens. They are tended, they shift, they grow. They endure over time, gaining a personality and reflecting their environment. When something dies or fades away, we prune, replant and grow again.

Perfection and polish aren't nearly as important as good light, good drainage and a passionate gardener.

By all means, build. But don't finish. Don't walk away.

Here we grow." (Seth's Blog, July 29, 2013)

This reminds me that our lives as believers are much more akin to gardens than buildings.  There is no such thing as a finished product when it comes to discipleship.  We sprout, we wither, we falter, we change, we fade, we bloom--in a word, we grow.  Fortunately for us, grace means that we have a passionate Gardner who refuses to quit on us and resign us to the compost pile.  Thank God for God and for His grace to grow.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes, Pastor) image from bing.com