Labor of Love

This is work.
This labor of love
Is labor.
And I’m aware of
Every moment
Of tending and cultivating
Weeding, watering, waiting
Pruning and deciding
What is worth my time
And what is the
will and way
of my maker
In this daily

work.

This is
{gardening}
{parenting}
{marriage}
{family}
{working}
{ministry}
{growing}

We started in a garden
and we will end there too.
In the meantime, it’s no wonder
that You continually use
Agricultural terms/
categories,
{work and wait
For future glory}
A story ending in the hope of harvest
The final season - beauty and truth.

We follow the footsteps
Of a Savior
Who walked the way,
Who climbed the tree,
Died and paid the penalty.
Defeating sin and death.
The seed
Who fell to ground and died,

For a harvest of new life.

In Him-
{For, to, by, and through}
We produce, we see fruit,
Through trials, tests
Rooted in truth.
United with Christ
In pain, death, and risen life.
Sanctified
Through His sacrifice.

God, the Gardener,
Thank you for the gardens.

Literary and literal.

______________________

Today has been filled with constant training and discipline for my two toddlers. I've asked forgiveness multiple times for an irritable tone and for poor expressions of my frustration. My kids are incredible gifts from God to me. I'm so grateful for them. 

But today has been really hard, and I am tired. 

When I feel overwhelmed by the woes of this stage—constant discipline, overwhelming physical need, long days, and lack of sleep—it is very helpful for me to step back for perspective. I need help seeing past this moment of work—this dirty dish, this poopy diaper, this load of laundry, this time-out—to see the big picture. If I don't, I whine and complain that all my work is undone and that nothing I do has significance or lasting importance. 

So I step back and look at the divine investment of my mundane tasks. I remember the inspired illustration of Scripture in the work of cultivating a garden—weeding, watering, and pruning. These daily tasks, these long days, are significant. They add up to a home of security and love, with parents who love Jesus and who make mistakes and ask forgiveness when they sin. And God has called me to this particular moment of work through his gifts and divine circumstance. This next diaper is a good work laid out before me by God for this season of my life. 

And my whole life is just a season. My entire life, I will learn how to die to myself, how to sacrifice, and how to be like Christ in his death and resurrection. 

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:24-25).

Until heaven, I will remember this divine illustration of gardening. I will reframe my life and my daily work by it. I will weed and water in my own life for the coming harvest. 

______________________

Gardener,
Weed and water today,
And then again tomorrow.
But do not forget
All the sweet and good things
That are growing.

And remember
The next season
Is the harvest.

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