Lately God has been impressing on me how motherhood and gardening are so similar. There are so many ways I could compare parenting our children to what it takes to grow a successful garden! I’d like to share a just few with you in hopes you as a mama are encouraged and challenged today.
Time & Patience
Right off the bat I’m reminded how both mothering and gardening do not happen quickly, but require lots of time and patience. They are a more of a marathon and not a sprint. Although there may be sprinting required for both, either to help a toddler in trouble or to snip fresh herbs for the food you are sautéing.
Look for the Good
Sometimes in motherhood and gardening you have to dig to find the fruit or the good. I was reminded of this as I dug to find cucumbers in my mom’s garden. Usually you have to lift leaves and push aside vines to find whatever is growing in your garden. The same is true for motherhood. You may have to dig a little to find the treasures or the fruit in motherhood. On a day when attitudes are rotten and there is a lot of character training to do, if you “dig a little” you will find the sweetness of your child. Open your eyes to see them for who they are and thank Jesus for each little detail you notice about them.
Weeding Out the Bad
All gardens have weeds to some degree. You have to take time to pull them or put a ground covering down to avoid them coming up. You also have to pull weeds in motherhood. These may be too much screen time, too much junk food in your family’s diet, too many possessions, and the list could go on. It may be necessary to cut back on these things to make the good things in your home flourish. Maybe you have put some boundaries in place to keep your kids safe. This is like ground cover for weeds. The boundaries could look like an internet filter, a no sleepovers rule, or reserving movies to only certain evenings as a family. Whatever God reveals to you to put up as a boundary for your kids, do it.
Harvest
You will reap a harvest, mama, if you don’t give up on your mothering or your garden! There will be good fruit/produce as you faithfully tend to what God has put before you.
This beautiful garden belongs to my mom. She graciously allowed me to photograph in her gardens. My ten year old took the images you see with me in them. I’m trying to raise some future photographers. 😉
If you would like to read more motherhood content, check out my recent post titled How to Respond to Your Kids.
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