Magnolias and Mothering

If there is one hobby I hope to become truly proficient at, it's gardening.

  

Spring 2009, the beginning of my first real garden

There's something cathartic about digging your hands in soil, planting a lil bitty plant, and then watching that little bitty plant grow until it's in full bloom.

Of course the toughest part of gardening is the time between the planting and the blooming.  There's a lot of arduous work in the middle.  The watering, the weeding, the fertilizing.  You know the stuff that isn't super fun, but you have to do in order for your plant babies to even have a chance at survival.  

And then, of course, there's the waiting.  

Something like lettuce only takes a few weeks of patience to see real progress; however, if you plant a magnolia tree, you could be waiting 10+ long years for that beauty to bloom.  And that's assuming it survives. 

But to me, it's so worth the work, and the wait.     

Summer 2012, three years later, my garden in full bloom

I'm well aware that I'm not the most patient person.  Somehow gardening forces me to sloooooow down and be patient in a way no other activity can.  Gardening requires careful planning (what spot will get the most sun?), challenges any sane person's patience (why do peonies take soooooo long to actually become established and bloom after they're planted?), and definitely puts me on my knees, where I've had more then a few conversations with God.  

"A garden is a grand teacher.  It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust." -Gertrude Jekyll  

And as I planted my flowers and vegetables this year, I realized that gardening has so. many. parallels. to motherhood. 

In motherhood....

There's a lot of sowing.

As mamas we sow endless seeds of faith, kindness, honesty, gratitude, compassion, courage, strength, love, ...the list is long.

There's a lot of fertilizing, watering, tending.  

We all know those character seeds don't sprout on their own.  Children require constant tending.

 And obviously...There's a lot of waiting.

Waiting to see which of the seeds you've intentionally prepared and planted will sprout.

Will she have faith like a mustard seed?  

Will she be tough enough to deal with this fallen world, but tender enough to be compassionate?       

And with a lot of prayer, and all that tending....hopefully later, there will be a lot of blooming.