A View Of My Garden

I think cabbage plants are beautiful. While I am willing to admit they aren't as pretty as flowers, they still hold a beauty about them that is hard to beat. Whenever I see a pretty cabbage plant, I am instantly transformed to my childhood. I loved the story books written by Beatrix Potter...with Mr. McGreggor and Peter Rabbit.
Here is just some of the variety of lettuce that our family has been munching on lately. I don't think a day has gone by lately that we haven't had a salad of some sort.
The Broccoli has come in nicely. It isn't as abundant as the lettuce, but we have enjoyed every bite that we have eaten. We add fresh broccoli to salads, and our kids love steamed broccoli with cheddar cheese.
Here is one of the tomato plants that I just planted. I think one of the most rewarding things for me as a gardener is to start a plant from a seed, and then care for it and finally plant it in the garden. This tomato plant got its start in our bathtub.
But here is where my heart lies...this is my true calling in life. As much as I love to garden and be on this farm, I know that plants and animals are just things. My true harvest are these children that the Lord has blessed us with in our family. Some days I do a better job than others with this crop. There are even days that I look at one of the five and wonder if the fruit of the spirit is even in them. Their daddy and I spend enormous amounts of time pulling weeds from their hearts and cultivating their soil. We are teaching them how to tend their own garden/heart. Some days we are so ecstatic because we know they got it, and other days we are just wondering where we went wrong. But we never give up...we know that if we faint not we will receive the reward in the end. Each and every day brings treasures along the way with this crop. Just yesterday morning, Seth crawled in his brother's lap and asked him to hold him. Joshua took a few precious minutes before leaving for the day and held his little brother. I know he had other things to get done before leaving, but he wanted to love on Seth. The other things didn't matter at that moment. This crop that we are raising is well worth the effort. We have given all that we are and all that we have to raise them for the glory of the Lord. It is truly our most precious crop ever.

grace and peace,
julie