Caretaker’s Garden

If I were a plant I would live in my friend’s garden. She has the greenest of green thumbs. Her garden is filled with hundreds of different plants all of which burst forth with vibrant color every spring and summer. You can’t walk past her house and not stop to take a peak at what is blooming. And if you catch her outside, she’ll invite you to stroll the caretaker’s garden.

There is something special about the caretaker’s garden. It is 20 plus years in the making and it radiates abundance. Everything seems to thrive in her plot of land. You might think she frequents the choicest of nurseries, however, you’ll find her in the back corner of the plant stores picking up the droopy, abandoned, lifeless plants. She brings them home to her garden and restores them back to life. She is more than a gardener, she is a caretaker. 

I often imagine the Garden of Eden, with ideal temperatures and humidity, lush vegetation, glorious flowers, grass as soft as a silk, perfectly suited for bare feet. I envision the Lord and I strolling throughout the garden conversing. It is truly heavenly.

Imperfect Gardens

Perfect gardens don’t really exist, even if they give that illusion. There are insects to ward off and fungi to combat, soil to amend and fertilizer to apply, too much rain or not enough. And there are always weeds. Gardens need caretakers who will work hard and facilitate good growing conditions. Gardens are never perfect and growth and beauty do not emerge overnight. There is a saying in the gardening world that refers to how plants grow – first year sleep, second year creep and third year leap. Abundance is cultivated over time.

I like instant gardens though, the kind that you pin to your Pinterest board. But, that’s not how it works. Whatever you are trying to grow, be it a garden, a family, a relationship, a ministry, a business or a new endeavor, tilling and cultivating are hard and waiting for growth takes lots of patience. The rains of discouragement may make an appearance. They can start as a fine mist and without warning turn into a downpour. Do not let them dampen your spirits. The rains do cease.

The caretaker’s garden

We are each asked to be caretaker of gardens. We do not necessarily get to pick in which plot of land we will live, but wherever the Lord places us, he asks one thing – that we cultivate and create with Him. Growth will come with time, and even those droopy, abandoned, lifeless plants in the corner of the nursery that appear to have nothing much to give, might surprise you, if invited into your garden.

Thank you for sharing your garden, friend.