Cultivating a garden.

I planted these little guys in seed form about a month ago - in faith.
Faith and hope that they would sprout through the soil.
And now again, faith and hope that they will grow enough to support fruit.
And hopefully... soon I can have faith and hope that they will grow fruit! (well, vegetables).

But man, gardening is slow! And dirty. And so totally out of my control. But I so delight in the fruits of labour.

I'm learning lots of life from the first pages of the Bible - you know, the first Bible story you ever learn as a child, Adam & Eve, creation, animals, etc. How God put Adam in the garden to work it and keep it. And for him and Eve to 'be fruitful and multipy' so they too can go into the world to work it and keep it.
To cultivate.
To cultivate families.
                    the earth.
                    culture.
To shape, craft and beautify what God has made.

To work hard, and to rest well, since God is in control. He doesn't need my work, but he's invited me into it.
Into my marriage.
Into lives of East Vancouver youth.
Into my immediate [and future] family.

To cultivate the soil of hard hearts with gentleness and love.
To pull weeds in the hearts of those who haven't tended to their garden.
To water dry, weary hearts with rich, life giving truth, and set them in the warm sun.
To fertilize soil and water the gardens of flourishing fruits.
To delight in the sweetness of God's good work in those whose hearts are sitting in communion with him.

I'm learning that, because of sin, the world is so broken. Cultures are broken. Hearts are broken. We are broken on a molecular and a global level.
This makes work hard. Soil can be hard. Rocks and weeds run deep. Whether it's working in retail sports, or in a nonprofit environment, Andrew and I know every day that work is hard. Brokeness and sin pushes back. We work with broken people, and we ourselves are so broken; reliant on grace. Disorder is always increasing because we ruined the perfect order of the garden. But this: it's not supposed to be easy. Again, God promises that we will have huge challenges in this life. But that he is always with us, and will always win. Jesus already won. There WILL be rocky, tough soil, but he promises to grow his kingdom. And he does! Restoration of hearts and families among the garden. In this, we realize that any good that does happen, is a direct result of God's goodness.

A piece of my heart that came out in journal form at church this morning:
"I need to set my eyes on Jesus. To work hard and have peace about resting deeply (and allowing myself to cultivate other non-paid areas of my life) because God is above any work that I do - all fruit is from him. I need to set my eyes on Jesus, not on people and surroundings. 
Jesus, I set my eyes on you. 
On your work in my family.
                       in my marriage.
                       in East Vancouver.
                       in youth. 
                       in my coworkers."

Gardening is slow. God does slow work. But it's intricate and beautiful and the fruit is such a delight.