Gardening...

Hello, friends! 

My in-law's are in town, which is always a fun thing.  Megan's parents are wonderful folk and we really enjoy hanging out with them.  We're going to be spending time in St. Louis going to a Cardinal's game and seeing some sights out there.  There's a chance we spend some time in wine country too, depending on how tired we are after all the sight seeing. 

However, yesterday and today were special days because these days were spent gardening.  Megan has always wanted a garden here at our house but neither of us really knows how to start one.  Thankfully, Megan's parents have total green thumbs. 

So, for yesterday and today, I was gardening.  My role pretty much consisted of digging holes and shoveling mulch but you'd better believe I'm counting it as gardening!

The funny thing about the past few days is that the gardening did actually help me understand a lot of what Jesus was talking about when he spoke in parables and such.  Parables like the parable of the sower where there are different kinds of soil, the parable of the mustard seed where something small grows into something big, and the parables where God is the one who makes things grow regardless of whether or not the farmer is awake or asleep have always been understood by me on a cerebral level.  It's another thing entirely to have to till up really hard soil so a plant can be put in the ground, space out all the plants so that when they grow they won't crowd each other, and trust that eventually they will grow, even if we forget to water them. 

Of course, when Jesus was talking in parables he was talking about our interactions with people.  The parable of the sower is about how the Word of God hits people differently.  The mustard seed is in reference to our faith and how small acts of faith can lead to big results.  The parable of the sleeping farmer is a reminder that it is up to God to change hearts, not us. 

We'll post some photos probably on Facebook in a little bit to show y'all some progress.  Until then, we'll just keep on gardening and watching stuff grow! 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam