By Doug Creamer
Gardening this Year
It is a busy time for gardeners. It’s time to get the vegetable garden ready for a new season of growing. That means pulling the weeds, running the tiller through the beds, and getting everything planted. A gardener also has to go to garden centers and find all the plants and seeds. It is an exciting and hopeful time. It is a wonderful time of the year!
We also need to trim the bushes and get our annual flowers planted. There is more weeding to do in the flower beds. Have I told you that I do not like weeding? It’s my least favorite gardening task, but I have to admit I like the way things look when all the weeds are cleaned out and fresh mulch is applied. I am glad for the longer days and the opportunity to work outside in the yard.
My gardening excitement this year has been tempered. Several weeks ago, I was working outside and I took a tumble, landing on my back. I lay there for a minute. Getting up was not easy. A massage therapist I went to once taught me some back stretching exercises in which I slowly engaged. It has been a very s-l-o-w but gradual recovery. I saw a new massage therapist who shared her gift with me and helped to ease the pain and move me closer to recovery.
While there is no good time to have pain, I have explained to several people that this is a terrible time to be struggling with back pain. There is so much work that needs to be done outside, but I am limited on what I can do. I have recovered enough that I can handle carrying groceries and light items. I can drag heavier things, but still I have to be careful doing that, too. No matter how careful I am, by the evening my back is sore, which makes me tired and weary.
Because of the pain, I have had to approach my vegetable garden differently this year. I normally run the tiller through my raised vegetable beds. I till in the leaves and some new soil, preparing a great place for my new vegetables to grow. I couldn’t run the tiller this spring because of my back. This year I pulled the leaves back and mixed in some bags of soil and then planted my seeds and transplants. I am leaving the leaves around what I planted in hopes they will help keep the weeds down. I have heard of this idea; it’s called no till gardening. I haven’t tried it before, but necessity led to experimentation.
It’s challenging when we are forced into changes. I want to garden as I always have, but pain forced me to make some changes. I do believe that God is still in the healing business today. I have experienced healing and seen too many healings of others to believe otherwise. But I also firmly believe that God will lead us through things because He wants to teach us more about Himself. He wants me to know that His grace is sufficient for me. He wants me to know that He will always be with me.
Some may wonder why God didn’t protect me, but I argue that God did protect me from something far greater that the enemy wanted to do to me. God did something miraculous a few days after my fall. He gave me a supernatural peace. I struggle to maintain my peace at times in life, but I have felt His presence as I have struggled to recover. He has helped me to do some things…slowly. I have also had to humble myself and ask for some help, which I am very bad at doing. These are important lessons that I have been learning.
The bottom line for me is this: I believe that God is actively involved in our lives but sometimes we have to look a little harder to find Him. I want to encourage you as you are going through your struggles…and I know we all have them…to look closer and see God in the middle of them. He is the God who will see you through your struggles. He loves you, but He wants you to learn more about who He is for you in the midst of your struggles. He cares for you. He will see you through to the other side. He is faithful. He is the Master Gardener who wants to produce fruit in your life. Let Him work the soil in your life and produce a harvest for His Kingdom.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
