St. Patrick’s Day of Old
This last Tuesday was St. Patrick’s Day. When I was a little girl the holiday merited pulling out a piece of emerald material, in whatever form you find it; a scrunchie, a t-shirt or a pinned on swatch of fabric from mom’s gonna-use-this-fabric-someday-but-if-i-don’t-you-can-have-the-lot-of-it-when-I-die -pile. In today’s world St. Patrick’s Day consists of leprechaun traps, gold coins, green toilet water, mysterious small footprints, and halloween like dressing up. I blame the transformation on Pinterest, for sure. At our house, my children received a celebration that mirrored my own childhood, to their upbringing I say, “you are welcome,” and, “I’m sorry.”
Green Thumb Night
As a Relief Society we celebrated Green Thumb’s Night in honor of this emerald holiday. Green table cloths adorned the long tables set up in the church’s gym. We bathed the rolling chalkboard in boas of green fringy accoutrements. The ladies on the committee made a beautiful (and delicious) assortment of green swathed desserts. We also pleased our digestive tracks with a bit of veggies… I am sure the green ones were lucky!
Faith is Like a Seed
Our first speaker, Bethanne shared the message of faith found in Alma 32. I loved her description of the role we play in the development of faith. When the scriptures liken a seed unto faith, the description of failure is usually attributed to the ground. The ground is barren, it is too dry, it is rocky. Whatever the cause, if the seed is not surrounded by nourishment the seed’s initial roots of faith, and goodwill whither in the elements of heat.
I used to ponder this, and attribute the ground to the circumstances of life that we are born into. It isn’t someone’s fault if they are born into a rocky situation…literally and figuratively. Of course there is nothing they can do to change the rocks, if people are just tossing seeds everywhere. I naively thought, it is not someone’s fault if they live in a climate that is too dry to nourish a seed’s need for moisture.
I was soooo wrong. The seed is the Word of God. When Jesus walked the earth, by mere mention, the wind beckoned his call, the waves heighten and calmed at his breath. Life was removed from the barren fig tree with just a touch of his hand. Through his priesthood power our earth was created under the tutelage of Heavenly Father. Every element obeys his Word. A seed contains every bit that is required for that plant to become a mighty tree, a flowering bush, or a simple fruit. When the Word of God (the seed) is surrounded by nourishment (sun, water, food) and a the season of growth (spring and summer with fall harvest,) the seed cannot help but grow. The soil is me, not my circumstances. It is you, not your culture, your community or even your home. If my heart is barren of living water, or strewn about with great rocks of bitterness and disappointment, that is my doing. If my heart is supple and full of life giving nutrition it is because of a daily commitment to honor God’s request for obedience.
Yes, some of us grow up in difficult circumstances, but every day, in every way we are in control of our choices, of how we deal with challenges. We can choose to nourish our spirits daily, just as we nourish our bodies. The soil becomes a bed for a bounteous harvest because of our choices to nourish, not in spite of where the seed happens to land.
Alma 32:42-43
42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruitthereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.
43 Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you.
Life Lessons {Random Thoughts by Sarah}
The tomato does not get criticized for being a tomato. A rose bush does not get condemned for being a rose. Just as each seed is lovingly crafted by Heavenly Father, he has perfectly created each of us, as his spirit children. If you are a rose, relish in the happiness that your beauty provides. If you are a tomato, be the best tomato you can be. Grow, live, nourish!
You cannot weed yourself into a beautiful garden. Weeds will return. You have to fill your mind with what you want to grow, you have to fill your time with hard work and creativity. Beauty comes but only by planting what you want, not by eliminating what you don’t want.
If you don’t like the way your life is now, plant new seeds. The fruits of the temple come by planting seeds of temple worship. If you want the fruits of a strong family, you need to plant the seeds of commitment, hard work and developing good relationships.
The Technical Side of the Garden
Tracy taught a really great class about soil prep. (Isn’t that funny, we didn’t talk about what to plant, we talked about getting the soil ready – that’s 90% of a successful garden. Prepping ourselves in the garden of faith means I need to take responsibility for my own nourishment.)
- Mulch – You can buy this by the bag at Home Depot, or for a larger area you can spend $15 per cubic yard at the dump, you just need to bring an open trailer bed, or truck. You also need a tarp to cover the soil for the ride home.
- Nutrimulch (Turkey Manure) or Steer Manure
- Compost – this can be homemade with your own scraps, or by the bag at the store
- Soil Pep
These are the handouts we shared about growing veggies, prepping your soil and pairing plants for success.
