Waiting Patiently

The last two years I’ve grown most of my garden from seed or slip (in the case of my beloved sweet potatoes). I think what I enjoy about planting seeds, as opposed to buying seedlings from the local nursery,* is that I get to see the miracle of life happen right in front of my eyes. I derive a great deal of excitement seeing a seedling emerge from the dirt and then helping them along as they do what they were created to do. In this process you have to practice a great deal of patience.

Not quite the work of human hands,
but definitely the fruit of the vine.

When we came back from a five-day visit to St. Louis to see my parents and younger sister I was treated to a nice surprise of several of my rattlesnake snap beans ready for harvest. I planted them in early June, put some bamboo poles next to where I planted the seeds and I waited patiently for them to grow and bear fruit.

I use the phrase “waited patiently” because the song “40” by U2 popped into my head as I was picking the beans from their vines. The song comes from Psalm 40 and many of the lyrics are lifted straight from the Psalm and waiting patiently

is what gardeners often have to do.

Waiting patiently is hard for me to practice! I have multiple task lists. In my haste and desire to “do” I forget to “be.” Just being and waiting patiently give us the space for God to enter into our lives. I know that I miss moments of joy with my wife, children, friends, coworkers, garden, nature, and God because of my impatience and my desire to do. Remembering to spend that time allowing for those moments to happen is what can make the difference in how much joy is in my life.

Jesus, our brother,

Help us to be patient.

Help us to be present to others, to You.

Help us to simply be. Amen.

* I have nothing against buying from a nursery, especially when you are talking about plants like tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. They generally have great plants that can be well worth the money without the investment of time and mess of planting seeds, but really, nothing beats growing from seed!