Investing in Your Garden

 

Normally we don't associate the word "investment" with planting a garden, but I would suggest to you that the success of any garden, is directly related to the investment you make to assure there is a bountiful harvest at the appropriate time. You prepare the ground, plant the seeds, nurture the garden with water, fertilizer, and constant weeding all so the tender plants that emerge from the soil have the best opportunity to grow and eventually produce their intended fruit. The majority of people no longer plant their own fruit or vegetable gardens, yet with this same principle in mind, we need to be cognate that our investment into the garden of our families or circle of influence is just as relevant and comparable. The time and attention needed to assure your "garden" grows is an investment well worth your efforts.

Think about it for just a moment. What do you suppose would happen if you went to your local farm supply store, bought some starter plants and a variety of seeds, and upon arriving back at your home you just pick a spot to plant the tiny seeds and plants in your backyard? No ground prepping, grass still growing, just dig some holes and drop those seeds in the ground. Tomato plants? Just plop those into a hole, and add some water for good measure. Then just sit back and watch it grow until the time comes to harvest what you planted. How successful do you think that would be? Based on what I know and the memories I have of how my grandparents and parents raised a garden, that plan isn't much of a plan at all. Pretty much destined to fail. That is not how you nurture a garden and it definitely shouldn't be the way we invest our time into the garden of a family.

Even if you’ve never planted a garden, and then tended to a garden as it grows and prospers, it is pretty much self-evident that things aren't just going to grow the way you hope if you don't invest ample time and effort. To assure your garden grows to maturity and produces an abundance of fruit on the vine it takes time, attention, care, and guidance along the way every day. Understand this, the same principle applies for your family and those you influence along the way. 

Looking at the analogy of investing in your garden, my hope is that you would quickly see the similarities into the investment we should be making into our families, as they are the garden of our life here on earth. Ponder for a moment the steps mentioned above that lead to a disastrous vegetable garden. No preparation of the soil assuring the ground is fertile with nutrients available. Planting the seeds among the grass and weeds forcing the seeds to fight for nutrients and space to grow. Then, after the seeds or plants are in the ground being left to fend for themselves with no investment into the nurturing process, all the time expecting the harvest to be bountiful. That sounds ludicrous even if you've never had a garden you should be able to agree that will never work!

Then why do we do this with our children and our marriages? How can we justify being a coach, a teacher, a parent, a spouse, or a servant to our Creator and believe that the aforementioned process will work without investing properly into our garden of life? What do you want your family to look like ten years from now? How do you want your children to behave? What do you hope they are going to be doing on Sunday mornings ten years from now, and what are you investing in that will assure they are doing what you intend them to be doing ten years down the road? Are you nurturing your garden daily with your own example of what you want their lives to look like ten years from now? Just as in our garden analogy, don't expect a bountiful harvest in the lives of those you have been entrusted to nurture if you don't make an investment in their lives now while the opportunity is in hand. 

Seeds need a safe environment to grow, so do children. Seeds need the proper nutrients to be strong and healthy, so do those we are tasked to nurture. Plants such as tomatoes and beans need guidance and support to assure they grow in the right direction, most certainly so do those we love. You get the point, if it is good for a plant you can pretty much guarantee that the same rules will apply for those we love and care about each day. Investing into the lives of those we love and care for means we are not just caring for them today, it is so much more about what their lives will be like ten years from now. Proverbs 22:6 gives us this directive, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." 

I'll close today by asking you to do one thing for me. Stop what you are doing for a few minutes, close your eyes, and imagine your family or that circle of influence you have in your current position in life. See the young people you have been entrusted? Good, now think about ten years from now. What do you see? Or better yet, what do you want to see? Then ask yourself, "What type of investment am I making to give my garden the best chance to grow and be bountiful? Am I even investing or am I just hoping things will turn out the way I hope they do? That type of plan doesn't work with a vegetable garden and I'm certain it doesn't work with those we love. Work in your garden, the investment of your resources, time, love, and care make a difference!

I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.
I Corinthians 3:6 

Coach Carter