First Harvest!

We finally got to pick some veggies from our first garden!  It was so funny, I had been checking on this one tomato that was slowly turning from green to orange and is sort of red right not, but needs another couple of days.  I was so worried about this tomato that I completely missed the cucumbers that were jut hanging out ready to be picked! 

I actually thought the vine was for the honeydew melon!  Doh!

So to my amazement, we had three good sized cukes ready to roll!  I called B outside and he helped gather our very first harvest!

We cut them up and had a taste test of dipping sauces.  It was fun.  And the cukes were good!  We have a few more growing that I saw and also about 5 tomatoes.  I can't wait!  Next year I'm going to plant squash and peppers too.  I can't wait to be able to use some fresh, dare I say organic, veggies in my cooking without paying and arm and a leg for them! 

Amazing what God can grow, even with inexperienced gardeners.  My garden does not resemble the very neat rows of other gardens I see.  There are no clear labeled markers to tell what the plant is (hence the honeydew fake out).  I have to lift and move the crazy vines to see if anything fruitful is in there.  But God is not deterred from my crazy messy garden.  He sees that there is healthy growth there even if everything is heaped on top of each other.  As much as I would love it if it were, my garden is not at all linear and does not grow in an organized fashion.  But God can see through the layers of green, still put His hand on it and do His work.

And my crazy messy life, with its layers of new growth sprouting all over each other in no particular order, under His guidance and direction, can still produce beautiful fruit.  But if I get obsessed and focused on just one area, waiting and waiting for answers, I could completely miss the incredible victory in a different part of my life.

"I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."   John 15:5, 9-11

Never once did Jesus say to look at someone else's garden and try to do that.  Never once did He say He would give you victory in the area you choose to focus on according to your schedule.  He sees the big picture.  He promises if I put him first; in my life, in my day, 

"you have made my lot secure.  Surely I have a delightful inheritance.  Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad."  Psalm 16
 
My friend Joni always tells me to "mind my own store."  Not to compare or try to fix everyone else, but to just do what I need to do.  I guess God would say to "tend my own garden."

Thank you Jesus, for my gardening lesson today!