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- Herausgeber: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
Growth begins in the garden. In this fast-paced world, our souls wilt without a place to pause and take root. It becomes easy then to overlook the many reminders of God's abundant life and transformation evident in creation. Inspired by her garden, Laurie V. Soileau shares how to find mindful rest and fruitful flourishing in the Creator's faithful hands. Through 365 devotions entwined with Scripture, reflections, practical tips, and prayers, Bloom and Grow will help you - find peace amid seasons of chaos and decay, - steward relationships with people and nature, - seek the steady presence of the Creator, and - thrive where and how God has planted you. Pull on your gardening gloves and discover the strength and renewal revealed in God's breathtaking creation.
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Bloom and Grow: 365 Devotions for Gardeners at Heart
Copyright © 2024 Laurie V. Soileau
9781424566303 (faux leather)
9781424566310 (ebook)
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Cover and interior by Garborg Design Works | garborgdesign.com
Printed in China
24 25 26 27 28 5 4 3 2 1
In memory of Lily Bell Gardener, whose love of gardening inspired the transformation of a languishing neighborhood into a flourishing community of gardeners and gardeners at heart. Seed scattered spreads forever.
Contents
Acknowledgments
How to Use This Book
January: About Time
January 1: Before Time
January 2: Blindsighted
January 3: Light in Your Darkness
January 4: All That Glitters
January 5: Time for a Check-In
January 6: Preserving
January 7: Cursed
January 8: Awaiting the Dawn
January 9: What Are We Waiting For?
January 10: A Ready Harvest
January 11: Timelessness
January 12: Rains
January 13: Becoming a Believer
January 14: My Time Is in His Hands
January 15: Don’t Toss Your Confidence
January 16: Forecast
January 17: Garden Work Expands
January 18: Chronos and Kairos
January 19: Keeping Time
January 20: Life and Death of Seed
January 21: Lord of Time and Space
January 22: Never Deaf, Never Silent
January 23: For All Time
January 24: Time Is a Gift to Relish
January 25: Stitch in Time
January 26: Hunter-Gatherer in a Farmer’s World?
January 27: Wait, Not Waste
January 28: Extraordinary Times
January 29: Where Love Grows
January 30: In Control
January 31: Repentance Is Requisite
February: Metamorphosis
February 1: Germinating in the Dark
February 2: Washing with the Word
February 3: Water Music
February 4: I’m Not the Vinedresser
February 5: Delivered from Sinking
February 6: Gear Up
February 7: He’s Pinching Me Back
February 8: Mature Vision
February 9: Not the End
February 10: Ministers of Reconciliation
February 11: Substantial Peace
February 12: I Am the Light
February 13: Picture Perfect
February 14: Pleasant Words
February 15: Full-Sun Exposure
February 16: Overzealous Pruning
February 17: Pure and Simple
February 18: Fresh Vision
February 19: Fulfillment
February 20: Worth Remembering
February 21: Rise Up
February 22: Saving Seed
February 23: Seeds of Promise
February 24: Seeking Approval
February 25: Show Me What to See
February 26: The Weak and the Wild
February 27: Wide Selection
February 28: Wonder in Crisis
February 29: Wondrous Patterns
March: Masterful Design
March 1: Nature’s Medicine Cabinet
March 2: Co-stewards
March 3: His Hospitality
March 4: It Matters to That One
March 5: An Open Heart
March 6: Walking on Water
March 7: Woolgathering
March 8: Agents of Fruitfulness
March 9: Honoring Limitations
March 10: Chaos and Order
March 11: Complementary
March 12: Good Bones
March 13: Good Soil, Broken Seed
March 14: The Goodness of Diversity
March 15: The Guild
March 16: Hope Waits
March 17: Power Supply
March 18: Precious Trees
March 19: One by One
March 20: Taste and See
March 21: Tool Upgrade
March 22: Two by Two
March 23: The Ugly Unfinished
March 24: Sowing Tears
March 25: White Space
March 26: Sunflowers
March 27: Uniquely Made to Flourish
March 28: God’s Language of Intimacy
March 29: In Living Color
March 30: Spur
March 31: The Keystone
April: Essentials
April 1: Don’t Shrink Back
April 2: Get Out
April 3: Earth Keepers
April 4: First Things First: Creed
April 5: Let There Be Light
April 6: Light Uncomplicated
April 7: Nature Nurtures Creativity
April 8: Washing Pure
April 9: Too Much of a Good Thing
April 10: Air to Breathe
April 11: Priests and Bridges
April 12: Overflowing
April 13: Earth and Skies
April 14: Garden Tools
April 15: Generous Sowing
April 16: Gloves Off
April 17: His Gaze
April 18: The Arch
April 19: Nothing Too Small
April 20: Walk in the Light
April 21: Basking
April 22: Sound and Silence
April 23: My Gardeners’ Prayer
April 24: Prayer in Suffering
April 25: Refuge
April 26: Seeds’ Demands
April 27: Seeds in Time, Unfolding
April 28: Sufficiency
April 29: Traveling Garden
April 30: Nosegays
May: Rhythms
May 1: May Day
May 2: Agency
May 3: Back to Basics
May 4: A Memorable Setting
May 5: Don’t Turn Away from Him
May 6: Doxology
May 7: The Limits of Beauty
May 8: Fallow or Fertile?
May 9: My Portion and My Cup
May 10: He Speaks in Patterns
May 11: What Am I Looking At?
May 12: Hunger
May 13: Learning to Trust
May 14: Naming, Repeating, Hoping
May 15: Structural Supports
May 16: Nibbling Grain on the Sabbath
May 17: No Season Called Mercy
May 18: Overfed
May 19: Remember Me…Communally
May 20: Prayer in the Desert
May 21: Rest: Rhythm of Life
May 22: Anticipation
May 23: The Six S’s of Sabbath
May 24: Reminders
May 25: The Silent Settling
May 26: Dangerous Light
May 27: A Shrinking Violet
May 28: Wait for It
May 29: Keeping Watch
May 30: Wind and Waves
May 31: Wings
June: Opposition
June 1: About the Briars
June 2: Adversity Training
June 3: Under Attack
June 4: Code
June 5: Your Goliaths
June 6: Entangled
June 7: Looking for Answers
June 8: When God Has Other Plans
June 9: Foxes
June 10: Multiplication and Division
June 11: Ground Cover
June 12: Truth’s Healing Sting
June 13: Hedge
June 14: His Claim
June 15: Pantheism It’s Not
June 16: Overrun to Overcomer
June 17: Parasites
June 18: Invasives
June 19: Overdoing It
June 20: Recovery
June 21: Resistant to Wisdom
June 22: Scarcity
June 23: Jumbled Priorities
June 24: Singing in Exile
June 25: Viral
June 26: Tempter
June 27: Gates and Walls
June 28: Who Rules This Garden?
June 29: Spiritual Attack
June 30: Recovering Wholeness
July: Dirty Words
July 1: Close Inspection
July 2: Stubbornness Stings
July 3: Wilderness
July 4: The Drama of God’s Presence
July 5: Complicated
July 6: Incomplete?
July 7: Reviving the Dead
July 8: Deluge
July 9: Drought
July 10: Not Obscure
July 11: Hiding
July 12: Exile
July 13: Fire in My Bones
July 14: Idolatry
July 15: Quicksand
July 16: You’re Never Alone
July 17: Nonnegotiable
July 18: Uncertainty
July 19: Prideful
July 20: Sacrifice
July 21: Scarcity
July 22: Toxins
July 23: Solo
July 24: Overcrowding
July 25: Sharing
July 26: Practice
July 27: Trap
July 28: Broken
July 29: Scarred
July 30: Daunting Expectations
July 31: Overcomplicated
August: Nature’s Manifold Wisdom
August 1: Mature
August 2: Powering Through
August 3: Everlasting Love
August 4: It Takes All Kinds
August 5: Banish Doubt
August 6: Born to Flourish This Way
August 7: The World Can’t Contain It
August 8: Eating Bonbons
August 9: Faithful to All Generations
August 10: Freedom from Bondage
August 11: God’s Goodness
August 12: Habitats
August 13: Suckling
August 14: Inside Out
August 15: God Your Healer
August 16: The Mysterious Madness of Gardening
August 17: Natural Laws
August 18: New and Improved
August 19: One’s Meat Is Another’s Poison
August 20: The Original World Wide Web
August 21: Honeycomb
August 22: Schooling
August 23: Seed That Matters
August 24: Singleness of Heart
August 25: Symbiosis
August 26: Take Nothing with You
August 27: When You’re Weary
August 28: Wide Lens
August 29: Worms and Wasps and Good Soil
August 30: Canopy
August 31: Cross-Pollinating
September: Beauty
September 1: A Display of Splendor
September 2: Gardeners’ Feet
September 3: Beauty Marred
September 4: Beauty Not Easily Ignored
September 5: The Author of Beauty
September 6: Days of Glory, Days of Hell
September 7: Garden of Delight
September 8: Barnyard Humor
September 9: Beautiful Spirit
September 10: Breath, Word, Power
September 11: Creating Beauty Is Worship
September 12: A Beautiful Dwelling Place
September 13: Faithful Presence
September 14: Strange Fire
September 15: Fireflies
September 16: A Beautiful Challenge
September 17: He Sent Me Flowers
September 18: Beauty, Grace, and Love
September 19: He Will Beautify the Humble
September 20: If Gardens Were like Wallpaper
September 21: Choose Your Beauty
September 22: Unmistakable
September 23: Look at Me
September 24: Desire
September 25: One Person’s Trash
September 26: Original Cultivars
September 27: Simple Beauty Points to Christ
September 28: Your Song
September 29: What Is Beauty?
September 30: A Spacious Place
October: Designed for Relationship
October 1: Far and Near
October 2: Polyculture People
October 3: Accessibility
October 4: Seek Him
October 5: Eagles
October 6: God Speaks My Love Language
October 7: Creator and Creation
October 8: Maker’s Mark
October 9: Naming Jasper
October 10: Protective Covering
October 11: When Will My Light Break
October 12: Wherever You Are
October 13: Giving Your Notice
October 14: A Body Wholesome
October 15: A Dwelling Place
October 16: The Improbability of Balance
October 17: Blaming the Designer
October 18: Garden Cohorts
October 19: Four Simple Steps
October 20: Going Out and Coming In
October 21: No Pretreating
October 22: This Is My Father’s World
October 23: Freely Receiving from Jesus
October 24: When He Calls Your Name
October 25: Promised Land
October 26: Garden for All
October 27: Darkness Can’t Control the Light
October 28: Unity of Shalom
October 29: Simple Hospitality
October 30: Sow and Reap
October 31: Undivided
November: Life Cycles: Fertility, Flourishing, Decay, and Rebirth
November 1: Día de los Muertos
November 2: Growing in Knowledge
November 3: Sweet Smell of Surrender
November 4: Crushed Herbs
November 5: Cycle of Life
November 6: Dandelion Wine
November 7: The Upside
November 8: Gardeners’ Dream
November 9: God Loves a Seed
November 10: Continual Creation
November 11: Suncatchers
November 12: Hens and Chicks
November 13: Calling
November 14: Seasons
November 15: Firepower
November 16: A Perennial Faith in Jesus
November 17: The Sweetness of Real Food
November 18: He Repurposes Broken Things
November 19: Resurrection
November 20: Royal Responsibility
November 21: Royal Role
November 22: Seeking the Source
November 23: Let God Handle It
November 24: Where Will We Get Bread?
November 25: Violent Tempest or Gentle Breeze?
November 26: Walk
November 27: Watering the Earth with Tears
November 28: An Interest in Living Things
November 29: Fragile
November 30: Bread of Life
December: Hidden Things
December 1: I Am Seen
December 2: Careful Where You Dig
December 3: Chipmunk
December 4: Ever Present
December 5: Over the Edge
December 6: Fed without Cost
December 7: Be Fruitful and Multiply
December 8: Gifts We Don’t Give
December 9: Grateful Gleaners
December 10: Hide
December 11: Image of the Invisible?
December 12: Where Moths and Rust Don’t Destroy
December 13: Manna
December 14: God Is Seen in All
December 15: Not by Sight
December 16: Paradox of the Tomb
December 17: Power
December 18: Anchoring Roots
December 19: Provider Beans
December 20: Simplicity
December 21: Food You Know Not Of
December 22: No Mind Has Conceived
December 23: Scion to Zion
December 24: Silent Night
December 25: Peace, Be Still
December 26: Glorious Truth
December 27: No Eye Has Seen
December 28: Undistracted Vision
December 29: Water in Wilderness
December 30: Wisdom Revealed
December 31: Time for Truth
About the Author
Acknowledgments
I’d like to extend my love and gratitude to wonderful folks who have encouraged and supported my writerly life:
My agent, Julie Gwinn, whose gift and grit landed me my first contract, ending years of the dreadful “Will I ever…?” syndrome.
Tammy, Daniel, Angela, Donna, and the many other lovelies at the Café at Thistle Farms for cheering me on every day of my three-year sit-in. You are the most courageous, strongest, and most giving people I know.
Dianne, Sharon, Lisa K., Gerry, and Gillian, who’ve stuck close with their love, care, and prayers tangible through the highs and lows, teaching the art of true friendship.
My Tuesday Morning Family, whose delicious accents, cheerful faces, wit, and wisdom are my weekly sabbath in Scotland.
My sweet friend Andi, whose generous gifts of time, encouragement, wisdom, and prayer lift me more than she’ll ever know.
My wonderful daughters, Kelli and Katherine, whose love and lives have imbued mine with richness, meaning, and purpose, challenging me and showering the world with artistry, generosity, and wit. I love you to the moon and back!
Dad, whose love, brilliance, dedication, creativity, and zest for life never wane. Thank you for imparting to me your curiosity, love of nature, and pragmatism. I treasure the echoes of hymns sung in your alto harmony beside me at church all those years.
And—as the last shall be first—my husband, Grant. Your love, support, wit, and determination are boundless. You have my deepest gratitude and my heart.
How to Use This Book
This devotional is a garden of words, if you will, meant to reflect and direct you to Jesus, the Living Word, and to God’s Word in Scripture declared throughout creation. His words reveal who he is, his love for you, and your right relationship with nature.
I invite you to sit with this book in your garden or by a window. Take it on a slow walk on a safe path. Lie in the grass with it open before you. Read the day’s devotion and prayer, then close your eyes for a moment or two to listen for the Lord to speak. Before you move on, take a slow breath and notice what you can hear, see, taste, smell, and touch at that moment.
In sharing my love of God and of gardening, I sought to create a few sparks over the tinder that will, as you explore, perhaps ignite into a new interest in or ideas for gardening and entice you to explore and engage with the land, especially as the sun is burgeoning up from or dropping slowly below the horizon. You’ll find tidbits of knowledge that should inspire your passion for growing in soil, in spirit, and in relationships. Life flourishes in every nook and cranny; you might as well claim one or two for yourself.
Every garden, grand or minuscule, of vegetation, stone, or water, can be a place of sanctuary, nourishment, and communion with God. The one who is faithful and true is calling you to his garden, to thriving. Don’t wait. Get out there and relish every moment. He will!
January
About Time
I trust in you, LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands.
PSALM 31:14–15 NIV
JANUARY 1
Before Time
Now unto him that is able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of his glory without blemish in exceeding joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and now, and for evermore. Amen.
JUDE 24–25 ASV
After counting down to midnight, I still dislike the ticking of the clock. I feel bullied by it. There’s hardly time to enjoy sowing and harvesting before hibernation. A year disappears as quicksand beneath my feet; I need better grounding.
Our Creator, who is not anchored to time, created time. If time bullies me, he’s not to blame. The culprit is instead my spent perception and stunted view of what God meant for good. Where is the antidote for time’s pushiness? Where can we find solid, higher ground to escape the flood of time? God existed before the beginning of all things—including time—with the Son and the Spirit in perfect unity.
In an instantaneous power flash, the Light of life became flesh. Above him shone the bright light in the eastern sky seen by the wisest men of the day. Jesus returned to the Father with radiant streams of light particles, flesh departing as spirit through a thin veil, shredding the thick curtain dividing us and God. What remained here besides a scorched stretch of linen? Peace. Not fear, loneliness, or hurry, just the Father, Spirit, Son, and peace.
ONE TO GROW ON
What is one way you’d like to better reflect God’s heart to the world?
Lord, my mind can’t comprehend the physics of light or time; I only know I need them. Align me with the passing of time so that all my life is yours, reflecting your light to the world. Amen.
JANUARY 2
Blindsighted
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”
ISAIAH 42:16 NIV
My vision went milky, and my eyes hurt. I fell in a heap of tears, scared and helpless. My husband drove me to the ER but wasn’t allowed in with me. After sitting on a cold metal stool in a frigid room for an hour, sobbing, I’d reached a low point, made worse by discovering I’d injured my eyes gardening. Both the soil and my contact lenses had been dry; without realizing, I’d damaged my corneas by rubbing closed eyelids.
Once the ER visit was over, I felt an unexpected flood of peace. It took me by surprise as I fumbled around our home as my patched eyes healed. Out-of-place things and unfinished tasks stopped calling for attention. Even the familiar footfall of depression had ceased. In three days, soft light flooded in, and my visual clarity returned.
In those moments of powerlessness and fear, I’d had no words to pray. But I’d emerged into the hands of kind nurses, pain-relieving ointments, my sweet husband, and a new paradigm: un-distractedness. It was the gift of focused vision. God heightened the sound of birdsong and the voices of my daughters and my dad. Blinding me to oppressive distractions, God gave me time to be healed and nourished and to return to my garden with greater wisdom.
ONE TO GROW ON
Sometimes we’re blinded to certain realities for our good. What distractions would you be happy to be blinded to for a while?
Jesus, you love me so much that you bring me to the places of deeper healing just when I think I’m lost. Thank you. With whom shall I share your healing today? Amen.
JANUARY 3
Light in Your Darkness
“The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
MATTHEW 4:16 NIV
Golden sunlight blankets my winter lettuces, nurturing but not incinerating them (or me or anything else, for that matter). The benefit we humans receive from the sun speaks of God’s love. Could something so perfectly designed for flourishing spring from anything else? Its light warms, nourishes, even lends order to our lives, its rising and setting guiding our internal clock for healthful spans of work and rest.
The world clock and cultural trends have dulled our internal clocks, overriding them with unhealthy patterns of waking, working, sleeping, even eating and mood, leaving us languishing. The more time we spend out under the sun, the more closely we align with the Creator’s design and the more we thrive. The reality of our connectedness to all God’s creation brings the truth of the gospel out of shadowy metaphor and into the light of our daily lives. After we’ve experienced the impact of the one true source of light, it’s hard to settle for artificial substitutes. It is no different with Christ, the Light of the World. And it’s no wonder God filled the physical and spiritual realms with examples and reminders of the power of light.
ONE TO GROW ON
Have you experienced waking and sleeping by the sun? If so, how did you feel compared with waking after sunrise and working until dark? If not, reset your internal clock (circadian rhythm) with a no-artificial-light weekend.
Jesus, you are my eternal sun, the Light of the World (John 8:12), the daystar (2 Peter 1:19), and the bright Morning Star (Revelation 22:16). I need you. Amen.
JANUARY 4
All That Glitters
Jesus said to him in reply, “Depart from me, Satan! It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve.’”
MATTHEW 4:10 NCB
Freezing rain and ice storms can transform landscapes into glittering wonderlands, particularly in the eyes of a child. Always one for natural beauty and extraordinary weather events, Dad took us exploring after such a storm, making the most of the teachable moment for me. I was mesmerized that individual blades of grass and tree branches sparkled, brilliant as diamonds. Brilliant, yes—but brittle. Maybe you’ve seen this beauty that leaves trees decimated, homes damaged, and roadways treacherous. If so, you’ll know the real crisis is the people left without electricity, even shelter, vulnerable to bitter cold for agonizing days, if not weeks.
The fragility and fleeting beauty of such a diamond-encrusted world mar the beauty of lives and landscapes many years in the making. Trees and homes are replaceable, but the loss of human lives is a palpable reminder of how ephemeral are things that distract our eye with promise of grandeur. Grasp at them and you’re left with nothing but cold, empty hands. Let them hold our gaze for long and what is truly precious and of lasting import can slip away from us too.
Joyfully receive the inspiration of earthly beauty but don’t allow it to hold your gaze. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21 CEB). Jesus wants all of your heart.
ONE TO GROW ON
What’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen? Read 1 Corinthians 2:9 and consider that no one has ever laid eyes on the eternal beauty
God has in store for you.
Jesus, grant me your eyes to see and your sharp focus of heart and mind that upheld your commitment to the Father’s will in the most difficult times. Amen.
JANUARY 5
Time for a Check-In
Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same.
JAMES 1:17 ERV
New Year’s week is that time when you like to pause, check in, and give yourself some needed attention. Perhaps you’ve been through the seed catalogs and made a list of those that make your heart happy. You ask yourself, Is my life as it should be? What needs tweaking, and how? But this is where you, like most of us, stop. Maybe you jot (or post) your new goals somewhere, but you forget the glue that makes goals stick. As a life coach, I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. Like dieting and gym memberships, they’re ideas that sound good but are missing the foundation and supports from which real transformation grows.
That list of garden seeds won’t produce a bed full of blooms that return year after year all by themselves. As flowers need the support of soil, water, minerals, and sunshine, even one new goal needs support in all areas of your life—not just one area. The knowledge and effort that sustain a goal are the roots and mycorrhizae running through the foundation of your life. The transformation you want comes from your Father God. The one who never changes is your bedrock and your fortress on every side. You lack no leverage for what you long to do and be in Christ with God.
ONE TO GROW ON
What one good thing in your life needs more support in certain key areas (such as financial, relational, health, serving, vocation, and hobbies)?
Lord Jesus, you made the way for me to receive all the goodness the Father longed to give us in the beginning. You are the Way for every good thing. Make me more like you. Amen.
JANUARY 6
Preserving
“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
ISAIAH 40:8 NIV
A mockingbird says elderberries are blackening. I collect them in the copper pan from Mystic, Connecticut, that preserves stories and fruit before time steals their sweetness. With jars and boiling water, I’ve soon got jam in the fridge. So much meaning is concentrated in the act of preserving. We can preserve—and elegantly so—the fruit of the earth. But to do so requires a shock of sugar, citric acid, and screaming heat or dehydrating it to a shriveled half self.
I’d have preferred an endlessly supple mind and body with spirit intact and an endless supply of fresh food, truth, and beauty. But I’m grateful for mysterious jewels of canning, recollections of seasons, the joy of bounty reserved for drier times like winter’s slowing, when at last I remember to share the treasure. Only one thing, Jesus said, will last forever: the Word of the Lord (Matthew 24:35). We waste much in our efforts to preserve our own flesh, having plucked ourselves from the hands of the Father back in Eden. It is as poet Seamus Heaney observed, “Once off the bush / The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour.”1
ONE TO GROW ON
Would we put up pickles and jam if the fruit of Eden’s tree had been left alone?
I praise you, Lord Jesus, Living Word, for grafting, reconciling, and restoring me to my Father forever. Amen.
JANUARY 7
Cursed
“Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.”
GENESIS 3:17–18 ESV
Creation was designed to flourish as our home in a mutually supportive connection between humans and nature. Decay and death contaminated the cycle of flourishing as we chose our own savvy and independence over our Creator’s loving guidance. In this limping cycle, creation itself groans, chained to decay and death, as we are. Paul described the groaning in travail, as if in birth pains for our liberation as God’s children. When we are liberated by Jesus’ return, our intimate relationship with the earth will be radically altered, morphing to the vibrant, glorious design of its origin. It will be as the bursting of fruit skin after the heavy rain and the sun’s warmth expand the shocking vitality within.
I have always felt a distinct attachment to nature and an enthralling transcendence at the sight of a clear night sky, shooting stars, and the southern lights. If I’m chomping at the bit for liberty at Jesus’ return, how much more is this electromagnetically charged planet of mind-blowing magnitude straining against shackles to fulfill its intended form? Earth in its galaxy, our perfectly fitted home and the garden from which we’re cultivated, is indelibly connected to us. Together, we await our fulfillment for eternity.
ONE TO GROW ON
If Genesis 3:17–18 describes the existing state of our earthly home, what does Revelation 22:1–3 suggest will happen to earth when Jesus returns?
Lord, my body feels its bondage to decay today. I give you my whole self as I keep my eyes on the fulfillment of liberty—for all creation. Amen.
JANUARY 8
Awaiting the Dawn
There will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will reign forever and ever.
REVELATION 22:5 NASB
It seems odd that light is a substance, but darkness a condition, the absence of light and its clarifying work. When I say, “It’s dark out,” there’s no force, no thing there. Thankfully, God created all things to exist with light, to be soaked in it, or at least to benefit obliquely from it. My garden, for example, springs to life in sunlight but languishes in its absence (as do I).
Light reveals all we are meant to experience, enjoy, and understand in the cosmos. It’s a challenge, the way I experience darkness—conditions pregnant with a longing for light. But all things await the breaking forth of the Lord’s own light. And darkness is a temporary condition; it will indeed end. The time will come when we’ll need no sun; the Light of the World will illuminate all things in his full, life-giving brilliance.
ONE TO GROW ON
If you feel rooted in darkness, the light not yet over the horizon, what do you hope springs from you when God illuminates your situation?
Lord Jesus, I wait in darkness to be transformed. Its uncomfortable, unnerving, but I feel safe as you have been here and have overcome darkness forever. Amen.
JANUARY 9
What Are We Waiting For?
What are you waiting for? Return to your God! Commit yourself in love, in justice! Wait for your God and don’t give up on him—ever!
HOSEA 12:6 MSG
The Bible and all history point to all things fulfilled at Jesus’ return. He himself is the fulfillment of our longings, the end of suffering and injustice. But at times I ask him to tarry anyway, not wanting my loved ones to suffer the “latter days” he described to his disciples.
Meanwhile, creation is groaning, less hospitable every day. If Jesus could come at any time and earth would pass away to be replaced, should we bother beautifying this place? Why grow anything other than food? Should we spend our energy caring for creation or evangelizing? The answer is “Yes, and.” Jesus didn’t rescind our Eden charge to cultivate life and health, beautify the earth, and bring glory to God. He added to our role; no longer just earth tenders, we’re soul harvesters, too, sowing the seed of the gospel, making disciples over all the earth.
Some days you’re anxious to go home and get past what hurts in this life. But that’s not the love to which Jesus called you. You can’t delay his return, though you can ask. Make the most of every opportunity for others to know his love and be restored. We who know his love have no excuse.
ONE TO GROW ON
It’s okay to have mixed feelings in your stewardship of the earth and of others. Ultimately, we must stay close to the Lord, and we’ll know how to proceed. How is he speaking to you today?
Lord Jesus, when I look into the eyes of those who do not know you, I see the person I was before you. You don’t want anyone to suffer, nor do I. Help me point them to you. Amen.
JANUARY 10
A Ready Harvest
He said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”
MATTHEW 9:37 NIV
Mornings in my garden are a repeating theme: surrounded by a sea of plump, red strawberries, I tease the ripe ones into the palm of my hands, but there are too many to pluck before the hens and slugs do. Our berries, plums, salad greens, veggies, and honey are all ripe and ready in one warm-season stretch. The cut flowers too. And though I’ve sown almost nothing (writing deadlines to meet!), I can’t harvest fast enough. Everywhere I look, something needs me. I need extra hands for this. How will I—? I’ll harvest one by one, with some left behind.
Everywhere I look are these as well:
•Hearts that are breaking without hope, love, or an anchor
•Change that unsettles every age group
•A plague of fear, anger, grief, loss, and suicide
•Post-pandemic economic loss
•Aggressive denial of Christ as our viable hope
•The denial of truth and of global tragedy
•Human life at all ages devalued
We wonder if the birth pangs have begun (see Matthew 24:6–8). Will the Lord’s return—and increasing hardship—come sooner than imagined? Suddenly the hurting and hopeless surrounding us seem even more precious, their needs more urgent, real tragedy more imminent. It feels overwhelming, but we can steward our time for their sake.
ONE TO GROW ON
Is the harvest of human hearts daunting or exciting to you?
Lord of the harvest, send ministers today to every person who is lost and without you (Matthew 9:38). Amen.
JANUARY 11
Timelessness
White hair is a crown of honor obtained by righteous living.
PROVERBS 16:31 CJB
“Youth is wasted on the young,” Grandma used to say, deadheading her petunias as I ran to the sprinkler, little arms and legs flailing. Look how I’m becoming her now—groaning to stoop and deadhead my petunias, stiff on returning to vertical. As soon as I take my eyes off the floriferous prism of these beautiful blooms, I fret about my aches and pains, the wrinkles of a well-tanned face, the muscle loss, new mood shifts, and the odd gray hair. I hope this doesn’t sound familiar.
The signs of time passing continually before our (well-loved) eyes remind us just how brief is this life on earth. And maybe they highlight the unfathomable nature of our immortality, our timeless foreverness with the Lord. Do you believe your loving Creator canceled your sin and your mortality out of love for you? I hope and pray you do! If so, you can believe that time—how it treats you and what you can weave within it—is pliable in his hands.
ONE TO GROW ON
If you’re trying to extend the life of this body and mind, what is it you plan to do with it for the Lord?
Oh Lord, Creator of time and space and humans who walk within these mysteries, fill me with grace toward my mortal body and mind. It is, after all, your breath in my lungs and your Spirit enlivening me. Amen.
JANUARY 12
Rains
“I will saturate the thirst of the weary, and every person who languishes I will replenish.”
JEREMIAH 31:25 LEB
If you’ve had a dry spell in your garden, landscape, or life, you know what it’s like to long for rain, refreshment, and restoration. It’s more common than ever for drought to be followed by torrents the hard, cracked soil can’t absorb, so flash floods rage without warning. And as our expanding infrastructure keeps floodwater from absorbent land, rainwater moves beyond where it’s most needed. Ground is overwhelmed, and watersheds are overcome; floods destroy crops, flocks, infrastructure, and lives.
Our connection with the Lord and his Word keeps our soil supple, our hearts and minds more resilient to manage what comes. I’ve had moments I’d call a flooding rain of spiritual encouragement, and I have been overwhelmed with God’s love; I wonder what you call these seasons. But sometimes we’re in a full-on spiritual drought, whether self-imposed or tolerated until too late. Crusty and dry, we have a hard time receiving anything from the Lord. Reliable friends on a “watch tower” can jolt our perspective if we think to arrange it beforehand. Leaving space in our lives for regular flyovers is even better. But I want to leave you with this: “I need help” is a respectable thing to cry out to the Lord, to the church, or to others who can and will help. And it may be the introvert’s best mantra.
ONE TO GROW ON
If it’s hard to ask for help when you need it most, share a code word with a trusted person. It’s like a white flag or smoke signals high on a hill—only not so dramatic.
Jesus, all things are yours, and so am I, even when I don’t feel like it. All earth and the cosmos respond to you. I need refreshment in the deepest places of my soul, mind, heart, and life. I need you. Amen.
JANUARY 13
Becoming a Believer
“Whether it is a short or a long time, I pray to God that not only you but every person listening to me today would be saved and be like me—except for these chains I have.”
ACTS 26:29 NCV
If you’ve prayed for your children, spouse, parents, or dear friends to come to salvation by faith in Christ, you’ll know my sense of urgency in praying for my loved ones. It’s not too different from feeling the dire need to escape the walls that close in in winter, to race outside, boots half-on, pleading with the sun not to depart too soon. (Sometimes it feels my life is at stake, though hardly my salvation.)
Two things to remember:
1.God created time; he launched it, determined its bounds, and suspends it at will. We know not how or when or what we experience when he does.
2.God gave you these loved ones and gave them you, loving you each with the passion, force, and intention exerted at the creation of the cosmos and again at the cosmos-shaking resurrection of his Son.
Do not doubt; just love and pray. You’ll be walking in his way, fleshing out his desire, which time can’t bind.
ONE TO GROW ON
The apostle Paul was about thirty years old at his lightning conversion to following Christ. Emperor Constantine was sixty-five, and C. S. Lewis was age thirty. Does age concern you?
God of mysteries, here I am again. Hold my loved ones and whisper your love and truth into their need. Hold my tongue from flapping in my doubt-prompted urgency. For their sake and in Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
JANUARY 14
My Time Is in His Hands
An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) So he got up and went.
ACTS 8:26–27 NET
Time is a baffling concept, but without it, we couldn’t live in, move across, or enjoy creation. God invented time to support our creativity, fruitfulness, and awe, not to bully us. And yet we might, like Philip, be called to leap into action without hesitation. How can you keep a proper perspective of time? We can start by submitting our days to his lordship and letting him, not the world or our own instincts, define “making the most of our time.”
If you’re conflicted about your use of time or specific timing, consider what (or who) to you frames time as a threat rather than the gift and resource God intended. The urgency the world values will often conflict with the Lord’s timing for you. Likewise, slowing down may seem prudent yet may hinder a specific task he has for you right now.
There’s no one formula for walking in the Lord’s timing any more than there’s one way to grow flowers. What he asks is our attentiveness and deference to his voice; he is faithful to guide us. Following his perfect timing as Philip did means being available for the extempore directive and being dependable in life’s humdrum routines. Sensitive to his leading hour by hour, you will be malleable, powerful, fruitful, and vibrantly alive in Christ.
ONE TO GROW ON
Of what or whom are we meant to be God’s stewards?
Jesus, you are Lord of time. Be Lord of how I see, hear, and act in time; use me for your glory. Amen.
JANUARY 15
Don’t Toss Your Confidence
You had compassion on me in my chains…knowing that you have in heaven a better and an enduring possession for yourselves. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which will be greatly rewarded.
HEBREWS 10:34–35 MEV
The author of Hebrews speaks of confidence that is our hope in our loving God, not in ourselves. I just had the privilege of sharing truth with a neighbor who’s clearly been hurting. Having been convicted of my attitude and not having loved my neighbor in action, I asked for God’s forgiveness and another opportunity. In a few hours, I was given it. I was just yards away and the only neighbor outside when this fella urgently needed help. Afterward, he offered me all sorts of goods in thanks. There was no other answer but “Thank you for your generosity, but we’ve got more than we need and realized that money and belongings let us down. There is one who has never let us down, so we lean on him for hope and joy.” God had prepared this fertile ground and will bring new life from the seed planted. I asked this young man’s forgiveness for not having been supportive before. He hugged me, tears in his eyes.
Throwing away your confidence in Christ can look like keeping it on a private shelf where others can’t read it. That’s what I’d been doing. The balm needed by every hurting person is in your hands. You’ll have to get up close and personal to their wounds to reap the reward of seed sown.
ONE TO GROW ON
Let times of pain—yours and others—remind you how God rescued and has loved you unconditionally.
Lord, floods have left thousands stripped of all material possessions and the ability to feed and clothe their own. May your rich rewards of real life be theirs in every way. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
JANUARY 16
Forecast
Let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water. Let us hold on firmly to the hope we profess, because we can trust God to keep his promise.
HEBREWS 10:22–23 GNT
In full certitude of faith, we hold unswervingly to the hope, the predicted fruitfulness of a seed that can’t help but burst with life. The fertile life God set in motion will continue unless we hinder it. Why do we struggle to believe this is as true for ourselves as for the garden?
When today those things you’ve been hoping to begin are shadowed by circumstance or doubt, have the same mind as when you sow seeds or sink those tulip bulbs. Then get out there and water them. Do you stand over them, fretting, “It’s not working! It’s cloudy today”? I’ll bet not. Somehow when we are looking directly at the creation within God’s hands, hope has more substance. More often we expect the “natural course of things” to yield fruit in our garden than in our own lives. We gardeners are pretty good at anticipating the God-breathed life cycle of plants from seeds and bulbs into cell walls, stems, leaves, fruit, and beauty. Can you anticipate a similar vitality for plans you’ve made for your life? Stand firm on his promises to make you fruitful and influential in the world. You were created in his image, and his spirit of power dwells in you, wafting lovelier than the scent of clover.
ONE TO GROW ON
Can you count the times you’ve sown seed or transplanted plants in poor soil? How many of them sprouted?
God, your works are beautiful. Help me not to see them in isolation but to grasp the integration of all things in space and time in your hand—including my life. Amen.
JANUARY 17
Garden Work Expands
Walk in wisdom in the way you act toward those on the outside, making the most of your opportunity.
COLOSSIANS 4:5 EHV
“I’ve got to move this plant, but I’ll be inside in ten minutes!” My husband has heard this too many times. I’ve got to prepare the new spot, so I dig that, weeding what’s overtaken that bed. While I’m at it, I may as well weed the rest. I blink and an hour has passed, so I flick on my headlamp.
Why does this happen every gardening day? Because I love being intimately involved with nature, in my garden or elsewhere. And I think we all experience time’s odd bendiness when engaged in work we enjoy. We don’t consider burdensome what we’re passionate about or what births joy and benefits the world.
The old adage about work expanding to fill the time allotted holds true—but this is different. Gardening (or hiking, biking, fishing, boating) will fill all your time if you’re not careful. Paul the Apostle knew the preciousness of time. He’d wasted years destroying lives and was now recouping his remaining time with relentless effort to serve the Messiah through serving others. His challenge is this: Make the most of your time; understand the Lord’s will and treat outsiders with care (see Colossians 4:5; Ephesians 5:15–17). Starting your day with the Lord will frame your time in his will. Then recognize that all those whose priorities differ from yours are worthy of your careful consideration. Our family, neighbors, friends, and strangers, the lost, the lonely, and the unsaved are part of the equation of loving others with greater love than we treat ourselves.
ONE TO GROW ON
If you can’t get yourself out of the garden, invite others in.
Lord Jesus, grant me the self-discipline to use the tools and ideas I have to better manage my time for the sake of others and you. Amen.
JANUARY 18
Chronos and Kairos
O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul…O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.
PSALM 131:1–3 ESV
I love languages. The elevation of familiar ideas to new meaning is the gain in translation of words from person to person, culture to culture. That and the endless variety of sounds in language excites me. The Greek words chronos and kairos, for example, give new utterance to things familiar and mysterious woven through our daily lives. Chronos is the clock ticking of measured time; kairos is a more ethereal idea of time’s mysterious depth.
You’ve probably experienced kairos in your garden, on a hike, bike, or swim surrounded by nature’s beauty. I reckon it is much like transcendence, the sense of profound connection to God and all his creation, of time standing still before endless fields of possibility. It’s that sublime moment between sleeping and waking you just don’t want to end; I’ve called it ultimate peace, knowing it’s just a hint of extraordinary things to come if we take the Creator at his word. When you experience these rare peeks at the intersection of your earthly and eternal life, I pray you sense the boundlessness of God’s beauty, truth, and hope unobstructed by time, doubt, or fear. Sadly, many ancient Greeks, who found such beauty and function in language, overlooked the one who spoke everything into existence. They missed the point of what they were trying to describe.
ONE TO GROW ON
What words of God mean the most to you?
Jesus, I feel overwhelmed by the ticking of minutes and hours and by thoughts too grand for me. You have been faithful to all your promises. I put my hope in you now and forevermore. Amen.
JANUARY 19
Keeping Time
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you.
2 PETER 3:9 NIV
My father is a brilliant polymath, a Renaissance man. I’m one of the few who can honestly say, “My dad is a rocket scientist.” His love flowed in practical lessons from phonics, Latin, and the fine arts to DIY projects and amateur radio. He instilled in me the value of long walks, sky watching, and the importance of “just enough cookie dough to hold your chocolate chips together.” Dad’s wicked wit sneaks up in teachable moments, his way of discovering if you’re listening. I’ll never forget him explaining the physics of an enormous sundial in a botanical garden. As I gazed at the lush ferns and flowers surrounding it, I heard him say, “And this sundial glows in the dark… so you can tell time at night.” It took me a minute, but the lesson stuck. I was old enough even then to laugh at myself. I never wanted to disappoint my dad by not valuing his teaching or his heart.
Do you feel that your heavenly Father is impatient with you? That you take too long to learn or to flourish in the unique way he intended? As children, we can carry shame, fear, rebelliousness, or pride that can cloud our view of reality so we miss our Father’s unconditional love. Jesus showed the extent to which he’ll go to ensure we remain safe in his love while flourishing in our free will. He who holds the sun, earth, and time loves you beyond words.
ONE TO GROW ON
A simple, mock sundial of well-placed rocks makes an interesting garden focal point. Instead of hours, let points and shadows mark times of reflection, prayer, or favorite biblical references. Fugit hora; ora: The hour flies; pray.
Abba Father, I belong to you. My time is in your hands. Amen.
JANUARY 20
Life and Death of Seed
We will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:51–53 NIV
Paul the Apostle devoted precious parchment to addressing doubts about resurrection. In his letter to believers in Corinth, Greece, he cited historical record, the more than five hundred witnesses, as evidence that Jesus had indeed resurrected from death to life. Some among the church had claimed that nothing and no one could overcome death and return to life. Their line of reasoning would, if correct, make Jesus an unresurrected liar and false prophet. Paul reminded these Christ-followers of a simple truth on which their daily lives depended: “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else” (1 Corinthians 15:36–37 NIV).
Every seed sown undergoes a death in the dark silence of soil, then metamorphosis, resurrecting in a new form with new potency (see vv. 42–43). The Torah records God calling into being light, time, land, sea, Adam, plants, and creatures. From that moment on, everything generates from seed or is formed out of something God called forth. Jesus, the final seed, resurrected as the imperishable, life-giving Spirit. He is the Word, the resurrection, and the life. As “LORD, the God of all flesh,” he asks you, “Is anything too difficult for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27 NASB).
ONE TO GROW ON
What evidence can you cite supporting your trust in Messiah Jesus?
Jesus, these things are hard to understand. But the evidence supports my trust in you. You’ve never forsaken your promises, stopped loving me, or turned away. Amen.
JANUARY 21
Lord of Time and Space
“Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
MATTHEW 28:20 NLT
Yesterday I had trouble judging the distance between myself and hard objects. I banged my head twice and tussled with an evergreen tree. Allergy-related sinus pressure disrupts my depth perception and balance. While my head did hurt, I was able to laugh, knowing the disorientation was temporary.
The disorienting effect of the recent pandemic has been far more serious and widespread. The constraints of space and skewed sense of time frustrated us deeply. We asked ourselves, When will this end—if ever? Many wanted to return to the comforting predictability of routine.
Another profound moment in history left Jesus’ followers confused, if not fearful, over matters of time and space. Before leaving them the final time, Jesus promised his disciples, “Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” I’ll bet that, frightened of losing Jesus and clear steps forward, they clamored for clearly outlined time and space, things familiar to cling to. When is “the end”? How can he be with us always after he’s gone?
The more I explore the original Greek text, the hazier the biblical use of always and end of the age become. Their meaning flexes with the context. So what’s my takeaway? Perhaps this: Jesus promised that we need not doubt for a second that he is always with us. Your new reality is this: God’s got you across all time and space.
ONE TO GROW ON
Do you feel disoriented in life today? Douse it with Scripture to regain your sense of steady balance. Read Psalm 23, Psalm 119:89–90, and Matthew 6:10, 13.
Jesus, thank you for always being with me. When I feel disorientated, remind me that you are Lord of time and space. Amen.
JANUARY 22
Never Deaf, Never Silent
“‘It will come about on that day that I will respond,’ declares the LORD… ‘I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion.’”
HOSEA 2:21, 23 NASB
All sorrow is painful. But dark moments become excruciating when it seems no one sees, hears, or cares. The futility of your weeping and pain poured into a vacuum is darkness raging against your soul. Others’ words drift in, leaving little in their wake: Solomon cried, “Everything is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 1:2 NIV), and Hannah said, “I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief ” (1 Samuel 1:16 NIV). Even King David pleaded, “Hear my prayer, LORD, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping” (Psalm 39:12 NIV). The wisest man felt life’s futility. A prophet’s mother nearly drowned in grief. The giant-slaying shepherd-king couldn’t sidestep this world’s sorrow.
But God joined his people in their despair. Solomon said, “For the ways of everyone are before the eyes of the LORD, and He observes all his paths” (Proverbs 5:21 NASB). Hannah sang, “The LORD is a God who knows…He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap” (1 Samuel 2:3, 8 NIV), and David stated, “In secret you will make wisdom known to me…A broken and a contrite heart, God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:6, 17 NASB).
Nothing escapes God’s heart. He’s intimately involved in your experience. He moves heaven and earth, sowing seed in your life for true life.
ONE TO GROW ON
Plant a sturdy flowering perennial as a reminder both of your grief and sorrow and to watch for the Lord’s response. Peonies and black-eyed Susans are great options for full or partial sun in zones 3–9.
Lord, let me not forget I am not singular but compound, not an orphan but part of a family in you. I am not “other” but your beloved. Amen.
JANUARY 23
For All Time
We are made holy because Christ obeyed God and offered himself once for all.
HEBREWS 10:10 CEV
It seems that only once a year your garden, landscape, and all those places you love to roam bask in the glory of full flourishing. Everything glows in the golden light of the sun’s most flattering angle beneath a bright cerulean sky. Those glorious moments in time are more precious by virtue of their rarity; they are one reason we love the outdoors and are willing to invest great effort in supporting its vitality. In creation’s vitality, we see hints of our own.
Once (and only once) a year, Israel’s high priest entered the most holy place of God’s presence, traversing the bridge between us and God. His arduous sacrifice to purify God’s people from unrighteousness meant the priest’s survival and restoration of the people’s lost relationship with God.
