How to be a sunflower today

I did not enjoy Botany class in college, and as I've mentioned before, my roommate had to help grow a plant for me so I could pass the lab. And now I have a garden... ironic?

But I do remember one thing: Sunflowers face the sun and actually track the sun's position throughout the day.

A field of sunflowers at the farm John and I visited this Fall

What if I also put this into practice, looking to the Light every day? 

"Walk as children of the light (for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord." -Ephesians 5:8-10

When friends disappoint, work is discouraging, or expectations are unmet, it's my natural tendency to focus on the effect this has on me. I do not think we should ignore our emotions, and we need to acknowledge that pain and hurt are real. But our focus must first be on Him. I find myself less discouraged, less self-focused when I actively seek for things to be thankful for throughout the day and when I look to what I know is true: I am loved beyond measure; I am a daughter of a King.

I encourage you with this: "...Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." -Philippians 4:8

Yesterday Holley Gerth wrote a great blog post on "When Your Thoughts Try to get the Best of You," and isn't it so true that when you focus on negativity, everything appears darker? But when you look for the Light and dwell on "the good, the right, the true," then you tend to find it.

Be a sunflower today. Set your gaze on the Son and follow the Light.

If there's water, there's growth. Well, not exactly.

If you water, then it will grow. 

This is what I assumed because my knockout roses and camellias are beautifully blooming just from me (or more often than not, John) watering every other day.

So if there's water, there's growth, right? Well, not exactly. 

The problem with "if... then" statements is that life has variables. 

Even though I watered my tomato plants and they were thriving, all of a sudden I returned to a completely eaten plant. No more leaves, no more growth.

Before. Tomato plants are the ones wrapped around the stakes.

After. Leaves eaten by caterpillars.

But I watered?!

This scenario is just like life. Sometimes we don't see the warning signs, and even though we're checking all of the right boxes, there's no growth. 

If you're a leader, this could be with your employees. Have you tried "watering" (i.e. investing) your time in an individual only to see that person not thrive like you expected and hoped?

Maybe you're trying to grow in an area yourself. You're reading books on how to manage your time and started keeping a calendar, yet you still forget about that assignment due today. Or you're still late to your friend's party.

Sometimes we (meaning I!) get frustrated when growth is slow or stagnate. In these situations, I often expect the "if I do this, then this will happen" scenario to work perfectly. 

Instead, we must learn to ask the right questions:

1. If growth has stopped, what factors could have caused this?
2. Do I have control over any of those factors?
3. Am I watering the right area to begin with? 
4. If not, what is a better use of my time? 
5. Where will my investment have the most impact?
6. What variables need to be in alignment to ensure growth will occur?
7. Which of those variables do I have control over, which depend on other people, and which ones are out of anyone's control?

Asking these questions will enable you to get a clearer picture of reality. They will also show you the best use of your time and resources so you are investing in areas with the highest probability for growth.

Once I saw my tomato plants had been completely eaten, I checked my other plants. I noticed the leaves of my green beans and my basil also had bites out of them. I also saw a caterpillar on the green beans. Now that I know the warning signs, I can take the right steps... and not expect watering to do all the work. My next step? Lowe's Garden Center to the rescue!

My Garden Experiment

With our new house came three raised beds, requested by me thinking how charming it would be to pick tomatoes straight from the vine for dinner salads.

What didn't factor into the picture was how miserable I was at botany in college, with my roommate having to grow my plant for me: The one requirement for passing our lab.

But here I am - after recruiting help from several friends (and their kids!) - trying to grow a garden with tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, corn, and green beans. The more I plant, the better chance I have that something will grow, right?

I'm happy to say that things are sprouting! I didn't anticipate the excitement of watching bits of green shoot out from the dirt.

Whether or not any vegetables grow my first time gardening, the process has been exciting - reminding me that yielding fruit in our own lives is a process too.

Though we plan and plant - as the poem relates below - sometimes things are established and sometimes neglected. My hope is that in life, plans wouldn't overpower the importance of daily watering and care. Sometimes in wanting things to operate on our personal timetables, we miss opportunities for watering, development, and growth.

Time
Mary Ursula Bethell

‘Established’ is a good word, much used in garden books,
‘The plant, when established’…
Oh, become established quickly, quickly, garden!
For I am fugitive, I am very fugitive—

Those that come after me will gather these roses,
And watch, as I do now, the white wistaria
Burst, in the sunshine, from its pale green sheath.

Planned. Planted. Established. Then neglected,
Till at last the loiterer by the gate will wonder
At the old, old cottage, the old wooden cottage,
And say, ‘One might build here, the view is glorious; 

This must have been a pretty garden once.’