Thoughts on Gardening

So today I planted some vegetable seeds with my girls. Now I truly do not have a green thumb and can't imagine growing much of anything here in the desert climate of Tucson, but I thought it would be a fun little experiment to do with my daughters, so we got ome planters and various seeds, and are now anxiously waiting to see what will happen.

I've never planted a garden before. We've been here in the desert for 12 years now, so I wouldn't even know how to attempt a garden of some sort here. I have reserved some books on desert gardening at our local library, hopin

g that they will give me some insight, but for now, we have the seeds of cucumber, bell pepper, cantaloup, and green beans all sitting in the dark rich soil packed into individual planters.

So for as little experience as I have planting, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed getting my hands dirty. The moist black soil was soft and cool to the touch and breathed of vitality and new life. Oh, the possibilities that just a little bit of dirt brings. Toria and I had just read the creation story earlier this morning, and my mind drifted back to that story as I sifted the rich dirt through my hands.

Scripture says that God created man from the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. I just wonder what it looked like, when God created Adam. It says that He formed Adam from the dust of the ground. I wonder if God sifted the dirt through His hands before forming the man. I wonder if He was imagining the possibilities, the many different ways that He could shape this first man. I wonder if He rolled it around for a while in His powerful hands, just watching the shapeless dirt take on a form by His will and intention, by His mighty creativity.

Psalm 139 tells us that we are all formed by God's mighty hands while we are still in our mothers' wombs. Like the still lifeless dirt that formed that first man, God molds, crafts, forms and fashions each of us with purpose and a calling for that particular life. His mighty mind decides the details of our bodies, the shade of skin, the shape of the eyes, the texture of the hair. Sometimes I think that that is the easy part of the whole assembly. The amazing part happens when He takes a breath. He breaths life into each us so that our heart starts to beat and our lungs start to move in and out, in and out. He decides which gifts and talents are necessary for each body based on the particular calling that He has given, and His hands continue to shape and form.

And just as that moist, dark soil with such rich potential for life springs forth tiny green leafs, full of hope and possibility, so too do we come forth, full of hope and possibility for an ailing world. What about you? Do you know that you were created

with a calling, a specific purpose? And that you were gifted to carry out that purpose? Are you living it out? Because the world is dying to know that there is something more than just what we see. And as promising as the rich soil is, if there is no life that springs forth from it, it just remains to be dirt.

Father, breathe fresh life into us today. Renew our spirits to live as strangers in this world, with a mission, a calling to tell the world of your love.