Soil Preparation
Why can't things happen NOW? Why all this seemingly endless wait? I'm ready to spread my wings, so what am I waiting for? #Preparation #ChristianBlog
We are finally getting to the time of year that it becomes enjoyable again to live in Arizona. This time of year is why people golf here, move here for the winter and retire here. But, can I be honest? I whine a lot during the blazing summers.
When the Hubs and I moved into our home a few years ago, I planned out an English Garden for the backyard (my own little brand of insanity), digging up palm trees and desert broom and other prickly things. But one of the hiccups in doing so is that we have a very narrow planting season. It goes from the temps over 100 to too chilly to plant in the blink of an eye (and, yes, in Arizona, it’s better to plant in the Fall). So, when we planted, we had to do it quick or wait till the less desirable and more risky Spring. And this girl right here is not good at waiting.
Fast forward to this year. Summer was rough, but they all are. And for some mysterious reason, things that had been in the ground for a year and a half shriveled and died. Some areas looked fantastic; others were dying off and we couldn’t figure out why. We fed; we watered; we added every conceivable nutrient and mineral, all to no avail.
The Hubs, who is a man of science and logic used a monetary Father’s Day gift to purchase a soil chemistry testing kit (wow. loads of fun there, Hon). He began swiping Tupperware from the kitchen for use as petri dishes and making grid layout drawings of the yard.
Low and behold, in my rush to get the plants in the ground, we hadn’t done sufficient soil prep and the clay in some sections or the sand in others had confined the growth of our plants to the soil they had brought with them in their pots. When their roots ran out of space there, and with no more good soil to reach to, they shriveled and died. So now we are in the process of trying to dig around and rectify poor soil while not finishing off struggling plants that will hopefully pull through.
In my life, I have often tired of the seemingly endless wait for fruit. I have cried out to see fruit produced in my life and in the lives of those around me. But in my heart, I know the soil preparation in my heart has been a far more important process than I can even foresee. Without all the work the Lord has done, and continues to do below the surface, anything I plant will quickly fade from its initial bloom and shrivel.
It turns out I have needed the times where I have felt forgotten, left behind, shelved. I have grown from them and will continue to do so. All those things He’s dug up and replaced and healed will produce rich soil, soil that will grow the fruit I have longed for.
“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” 2 Corinthians 9:10
For more on “The Poison of Indifference,” click HERE!