The Garden Principle
05-Jun-06

I've had several gardens over the years, but each time they're overrun by weeds, and we end up eating whatever can survive. It usually starts after the first heavy rains after planting where the ground stays wet for several days. The next time I step out there, the weeds have taken over and I can't tell the difference between them and the seedlings. So I just have to let them grow alongside each other and from there it's completely out of control.

As a side note, last year I sent a Utah friend a picture of the lush vegetation on our property. She asked, "How do you water all that?" I could hardly contain my laughter! How do we water it all? Northwest Georgia is in the middle of a rain forest. Weeds and trees grow up spontaneously here; nature takes care of our watering.

Anyway... back to my garden story. This year, I decided it would be different. Along with setting several other goals and keeping them on a slip of paper in my back pocket, I set this goal: "I choose to find it easy and fun to grow a tidy garden full of delicious tomatoes, beans, squash, cucumbers and fresh herbs."

I began by training myself to be consistent. Instead of having my husband till the garden with a tractor, I dug it myself with a shovel. It's about 40 ft by 12 ft, and I did it all by hand. No, I didn't kill myself doing it either. For a couple weeks, I went out there and dug 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there. Digging in the dirt gave me an escape from my work for a few minutes. I could look out over our property and count my blessings - truly realizing just how "rich" we are. It brightened my mind and shifted my thinking to grateful abundance. Soon, I used my garden time as a way to deal with stress, solve problems, or get some quiet time for prayer and contemplation.

In time, I'd dug the garden. Planting came next. My three younger children wanted to be involved in that. We did the majority of it in an evening, and it was quite enjoyable. Gradually, I dug a little more garden space and set out a few more plants. Because I'd developed the habit of digging in my garden, it's been easy to continue it and keep the weeds out. So here we are several weeks into the growing season and my garden is still neat and tidy.

Here are a few insights I'm learning from this garden experience.

• First, small moves made consistently over time bring great results.
• Second, having a picture of the end result in your mind ( in this case: a clean tidy garden full of delicious vegetables) makes it easy to work with purpose.
• Third, my garden is symbolic of all the other goals I set at the same time. When I read them throughout the day, I remember that even though there may appear to be no "fruit" or even progress toward their outcome, they are forming and growing... just like my garden. If I give them just a little time and attention each day as I've done the garden, they'll materialize as well.

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