April’s Promise

If spring is the door to summer’s glory, why is it that Mother Nature sometimes hesitates to step inside?

~ Me.

Carolina clay and a little secret sauce

I’ve been knee deep in the Carolina clay these days. Leaning into the hope of April’s promise. Raking, digging, hauling, and shopping for the perfect perennial additions. And yes, often tinkering or sprinkling clove, cinnamon, mint, or crushed lavender leaves around river rocks and several boulders in my yard.

I call the concoction the ‘secret sauce’ that keeps critters and snakes away (I hope). So yeah, spring garden prep here in southwestern North Carolina is not for sissies. April’s Promise of new things to come helps keep me going—and sowing.

April’s showers and May’s Flowers

I love to get my hands dirty and sow flower and vegetable seeds in nutritious soil, but a beautiful, mature garden doesn’t appear overnight. That thought brings visions of thorns pricking my sometimes-impatient side.

It’s been said that a gardener’s work is never done. I know the truth behind that phrase and another too; There’s a time to reap and a time to sow.

Some good things take time—like growing crocuses, snowdrops, or lavender from seed. I’m learning to embrace—and share the joy of each step of such worthwhile journeys.

Anticipating new beginnings

Although spring’s many labor-intensive or tedious tasks aren’t always fun, I know the reward is worth my effort and will reach further than the borders of my backyard. Gardeners don’t just sit idle waiting for growth.

I expect and believe, as with all things worth waiting for, the best is yet to come. There will be plenty of time to watch flowers grow in May, so for now it’s time to sow . . .and wait.

Birds of a feather

I believe birdwatching and listening to their unique songs affect our lives in many positive ways. With well-documented facts including reduction in anxiety, depression, and stress, it’s as if God said, I’ll send them happiness in the form of feathery flying friends to brighten their overstimulated brains.

Thank you, God.

I’m a nature lover

It’s true, nature is a huge part of my existence. However, I don’t worship it. My praise goes to the Creator.

Here’s what the Bible says about nature:

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad… Psalm 96:11-12

Life-giving water

Plants may contain 80-90% water, which is essential for photosynthesis, cooling, and the conversion and transport of nutrients from the earth into a living plant. Although we can grow crops without fossil fuels, we can’t grow anything without water.

While water is necessary to sustain life, it means more to us than our earthly minds can conceive. By weight, approximately 60% of the typical human body is H2O. We can’t survive without it. We are drawn to it. Water heals, nourishes, and even calms our souls. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.

The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.  

~ John 4:13-14

Enjoy your and your garden’s journey

Thoughts of gardening or the fruit of my effort seldom overwhelm me. It’s where I meet with my unseen Creator and, oftentimes, where I believe He wants me to be. Sure, it’s what I choose to do. In all truth, when it comes down to my first God-given passion, gardening and writing have wrestled for first place. There are wheelbarrows and bookshelves overflowing with evidence all around me. The writing/nature/gardening connection started when I was a child. It’s euphoric. And it’s who I am.

Tell your story

So, yeah, I’ve said it. It’s always been gardening (at least in spring and summer), and yes, sometimes I enjoy the process of working in the dirt more than writing. But not in winter when the ground is hard like rock. While both are cathartic, some will argue about the similarities. Neither is easy—unless you enjoy Tug of War. Each involves strenuous, mind or back-wrenching daily commitment and hard work.

When I look back over the years, I see how my gardens have become part of me—and my story. I mourned for my parents while tending gardens in Florida and healed from the emotional effects of cancer in my woodland garden here in North Carolina.

His mercies are new every morning. Lamentations 3:22-23

Likewise, writing isn’t always an outlet or a comfort. The many stages that lead to completing a project can be compared to mud wrestling. The work is ongoing. We keep digging and penning until we obtain what we’re meant to reap, and sometimes, it’s not what we had hoped it would be.

Understanding dry seasons and growth

While raking or tilling a rocky, clay-ridden plot or sowing seeds, shrubs, or saplings can often lead to a sore neck or shoulders, it’s not the same kind of hurt. Some wounds go deeper regardless of the cause. These scars are worth bearing even when the growing pains of what we perceive as personal or professional dry seasons or fail years threaten to cripple us in many ways.

Growth can come from intense pain. A million or so tears later, I can say I’ve learned to trust God’s ways even when I don’t understand. 

The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes. ~ Marcel Proust

The Author of all things gardening and the offering

While I embrace the deity of God the Father as the unseen Author and Creator of all that is or ever was, I equally embrace His Son, Jesus, as my Savior and King.

• God, the Author, and Master Gardener.
• Jesus, the Story, and Sustainer.     (See Colossians 1:17)

I don’t mention this for the sake of only adding analogy to my thoughts on gardening or how beneficial it is for us to understand the relevance of working with our hands, cause and effect, or just how much the word sacrifice impacts us daily.

I’ve studied the scriptures, and my faith held me through many storms. Jesus allowed himself to be broken. His side pierced until his blood became like rain—and in turn, He became the deepest spring of life-giving water so I could live.

The thought overwhelms me.

Why didn’t He run? Instead, He chose—while living as an average man—to let the seeds sown by His Father God fall where they may.

Reaping (and trusting) in all seasons

My friend, Old Man Winter, has waved goodbye. Lady Spring has all my attention these days. One of them must have told Mother Nature I, like my garden, am craving rejuvenation. Hope. New life. Another opportunity for a time to sow. (Don’t worry, I know they’re only seasons).

Gardener’s hope, expect, and believe as with all things worth waiting for … The best is yet to come. There will be plenty of time to watch our flowers grow, but now, it’s a time to sow.

 ~ Joann Claypoole (aka, Me)

Consider the way

In good times and bad, whenever I search deeper within my circumstances, I’m reminded there’s always a time to share the joy of sowing and the need to sow more, so I can grow:

• Love
• Wisdom
• Forgiveness
• Mindfulness
• Kindness
• Contentment
• Happiness
• Courage
• Inner Beauty
• Legacy

Father God, help me never forget the most important things in life are meaningless if I—and we—can’t sow and share Your love. May it move us with compassion to care about April’s promise.

It’s time.

The new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories. Does sowing, reaping, and all things gardening inspire you to share and grow? Don’t forget to join the conversation here in the Inspire a Fire comments section below this post. Want to read more stories like this? Click the highlighted links above or visit my Dreamdove’s Flights of Fancy blog& DoveStories Website.

Wishing you joy on your journey and the realization of many of April’s promises,

JC

Special Thanks: All images courtesy of Pixabay. Featured image artists: Image by Couleur from Pixabay, Image by Joe from Pixabay, Image by Amadeo Saíz from Pixabay, Image by Joe from Pixabay.