Monday, January 2, 2023

New Life in the New Year

For years I have watched at a distance while other people garden, anything from flowers to food for their tables.  As a kid, we grew many things, including some fruit trees, grapes and strawberries.  The strawberry patches are most memorable, because I hated picking strawberries all day in the heat of the summer.  There were things to make it more palatable: the ability to pick and eat as many strawberries as I wanted on the job, and most rewarding, a pond to jump into when a refreshing swim was needed to cool off or break up the monotony.

As an adult, in our starter home, ONE year I threw some tomato and jalapeno seeds out on the side of the house.  I didn't harvest anything, though I did manage to germinate them and get them going well, until the squirrels decided they liked it better if I stayed in my house where I belong, so they ate them. 

When we moved to this new house, the prior owners left me with an entire garden to tend to and try not to kill.  Most things made it to fall, but a few things were trampled by the dogs and lack of consistent watering through the summer while the house sat empty.  I lost a Chinese peony to the dogs trampling the flower beds, but I am hopeful it will come back in the spring.  Regardless, those plants gave me a crash course in gardening.  I had to learn some things, because I suddenly had all these extra living creatures to care for the minute we moved in.  I'm most proud of my Brazilian Jasmine, which stayed strong and continued up the vine into fall.  I did a rough experiment, and did NOT winterize it, because I want to see what all comes back in the garden with little to no effort on my part.  I like the idea of gardening, but I have learned myself well, and I know that if it takes too much day-to-day care, I am more likely to kill it.  I can garden and I can keep things alive - but they have to do their part too, by trying not to die.  It's an agreement I make with the plant--I will try to keep you alive and you will try not to die.  There is harmony when everything in the garden plays by the rules.

But now, I have upgraded my gardening game.  If I had seen this system on my own, I would have thought, "wow that's really cool but I probably can't buy something like that for another decade or so."  But my husband.  You guys, this man loves me well.  Not just because he gives me nice things, though he does.  But because he looks for ways to make my heart happy.  His gifts always have thought and love behind them, and when he hits the ball, it is usually straight out of the gift-giving park.

I don't usually like being outside in the elements (rain, snow, COLD, extreme heat).  I am so thankful I live in an area where we have a more normal four seasons because I need the break in between seasons.  It would be too much I think to live somewhere it is always hot or always cold.  At least in the Midwest you get a fair variety of things.  So while I love the idea of gardening, once the temps outside become unbearable (which to me is usually below 30 or above 85 degrees), I will become inconsistent with my care.  I have loved having house plants to tend to these last 3 months, because I can keep them alive without worrying about the conditions outside.

Enter my new toy, the Gardyn, that Kris surprised me with for Christmas.  He doesn't always spend extravagantly, but when he does, it is usually on me.  Look, he married a woman who likes nice things and who is drawn to things that are shiny and cool.  And my husband is a gadget guy, who loves to do research and get the best deal, while also benefiting from said gadget.  It's a win-win for me, really.  I get to be spoiled, and he gets to try out new tech-y toys.

So, we got the Gardyn set up on 12/28, and then were promptly without internet for another 24 hours.  I reset my sow date to 12/29, once the Wifi was back up and running consistently, and the Gardyn system used its built in hydroponics to begin watering my babies on a schedule.  The Gardyn came with 30 pods: 

GREENS
Arugula x 2
Breen
Butterhead
Endive Lettuce
Green Mustard
Kale
Kale Lacinato
Lollo Rossa
Monte Carlo
Red Sails x 2
Red Mustard
Romaine
Rouge D’hiver
Swiss Chard
Tatsoi x 2
HERBS
Basil
Cilantro
Italian Parsely
Mint
Oregano
Rosemary
Thai Basil
Thyme
FRUITS
Cherry Tomatoes
Jalapeno
Mini Eggplant
Sweet Peppers

I didn't start the green mustard, either kale variety (NEVER), or the extra Red Sails, Tatsoi and Arugula. In just 4-5 days, I have some clear winners. Leading the charge were Tatsoi (it was the very first sprout and within 4 hours had doubled in size), Rouge D'hiver, Arugula, Red Sails Lettuce, and Monte Carlo. The others are slower, and some take 10-14 days to sprout. So it's early, and I need to move them around now that I found a chart showing where it's best to place each thing in the Gardyn.

So what does this have to do with anything?

Well, I started the Gardyn on 12/29, and woke up to a brand new year yesterday with my first sprout. I had been watching the plants, several times a day making excuses to go check on them. I would talk to them, like any crazy plant person, and encourage them to grow. It shocked me, and at the same time didn't, that as the new year dawned, new life was beginning in my Gardyn. It was not lost on me, this literal picture of new life. I couldn't shake this thought of New Life as I got ready for church. The music and sermon were on point, and continued to echo this idea of New Life as this new year stretches out before us.

The old dead things will be cast off. I open myself up to be pruned and shaped this year. As I cultivate and harvest and tend to my garden throughout 2023, I am making an agreement with God. I choose to let him, the ultimate Gardener, have control over my thoughts, my mind, my life. I learned a lot about myself in 2022, and one of the biggest lessons is that it's past time to let the roots be trimmed back so that I can grow fuller and healthier.

I've done a crash course in gardening over the last week, reading, studying, ensuring that I feel confident in managing the Gardyn. I have seen pictures of roots that get out of control and take over the entire system, and I immediately drew the connection between the unhealthy things in my life. There are habits and thought processes that don't belong. There are lies that have been my companions and sounding board for decades. And starting therapy last year identified several areas where I need pruning. The roots of negative thinking have grown strong and thick and deep, and have woven themselves around places in my life they do not belong. The goodness in my heart is often trying to fight against external distractions. If I don't tend to that goodness, that kindness, that tenderness, the roots will be damaged, and that will bring darkness and disease to my entire being. Little by little, sickness can creep in, if allowed, and affect everything around it.

This Gardyn, like my soul, will need constant tending to. If I just let it go and let it do its thing, it will do what it thinks is best, and honestly, I will get a harvest of something. On its own, while my Gardyn could possibly yield a bountiful harvest, it is not lost on me that by lovingly and consistently tending to the plants, I can help them thrive. If you have ever tried to keep anything alive (plant or child), you know that it requires a great deal of time and effort. You get out what you put in. So if I spend time cleaning the system, trimming the roots, cutting back places that are overgrown, giving extra help to areas not getting enough light, the results will be greater than if I just sit back and watch what happens.

We have a responsibility to take an active role in leading our thoughts and minds. We have the power to control how we think, which in turn will control how we react to the stresses in our life. I am just now scratching the surface of this. We COULD sit back and let the lies and darkness run amok in our lives. Or we could take the reins and refuse to be guided by things that do nothing but make us miserable.

I am the master of my Gardyn. I have final say in what I grow, where the plants are placed, and how much extra care they are given. It is up to me to do what is best for the Gardyn. To use the system as it was designed, but to give it the loving care the plants need to thrive. The same is true with my mind and my soul. It is up to me to grow. I can stay where I am, watching the world pass me by, watching others grow and thrive. I can wish for what they have as I watch them. But that will not move me forward. There is work I have to do to get the life that I want. To be healthy, I have to do the hard work to prune away the unhealthy, negative ways I have always allowed myself to think and live under.

This will be an interesting year as I look at my life through the Gardyn. There will be ups and downs. There will be plants that will require more time and attention. There will be plants, very likely, that will create disruption and anxiety for me. They will frustrate me and make me want to give up. Does that sound like life to anyone else?
But just like I am doing with therapy, I will press on. I will keep tending to and pruning, and giving time and attention to my Gardyn, and to my soul. It is not a one time thing. It will have to be an EVERY day effort. People who win prizes for gardening are not the ones who sit back and do nothing. They are the ones who get their hands dirty. Who devote their time to studying what's in the garden, and then using whatever tools are needed to keep the plants as healthy as possible.

The very second contaminates enter into your garden, your job gets harder. And if you don't stay on top of it, it will get out of control and when left unchecked, the darkness and disease will take over the entire system. Sin and unhealthy patterns of thinking do the exact same thing in our hearts and souls. They will destroy us, if left unchecked. I have lived this firsthand. I have watched a beautiful garden grow sick and dark and deadly. Even if a plant dies, it will wreak havoc on a healthy garden, especially if you do not remove it immediately. The only way to heal a sick garden is to completely eradicate the disease and death. Sometimes it will require complete disassembly and intense cleaning before it can be put back together. But the beauty is that no amount of death and decay is too much. The Master Gardener is capable of taking death and decay and breathing new life into it. New blooms can grow from dead ground when God is involved. He can take broken, hardened ground (and hearts) and he can breathe his gentle breath and everything touched by it will be changed. New life will spring up, because God tells it to. Because God cannot abide in death and darkness.

Aren't you tired of living under the weight of guilt and shame or fear and darkness? Isn't it time to try something new? Yes it's hard. Yes it is scary. But look at the end result of a well-tended garden. Beauty and life and new growth abound. And when that happens, it literally cleans the air of toxins. Don't you want to breathe fresh air through lungs that are no longer choked out by the lies of the world? Think about how freeing it would feel to believe that YOU can change and start a new groove for your life.

I'm not a big fan of new years resolutions. I think we make them too complicated. I likely will not lose 50 pounds this year, because I can tell you right now, I probably won't even try. I spent a lot of new years already feeling like a failure. There can be a lot of guilt and shame associated with the new year, especially if you grew up thinking you HAD to choose something to be better at in the new year. It was a "thing" to make a new year resolution-it is still a thing. I think in trying to "be better" in the new year, we lost sight of what the new year is about.

It's not about setting you up for failure. It's a chance to renew your hope. It's a chance to start over. It doesn't mean you HAVE to do something grand with 2023. The new year should give us hope, not fill us with terror. It should remind us that whatever happened in the past year, that year is over and done with. Maybe the year was filled with misery and grief for you. 2023 is a sign of hope, that maybe the pain will lighten a bit and things will seem less impossible in the coming year. Maybe the year was an amazing year, and 2023 is a chance for you to cling to the joys that 2022 brought, because you may need those reminders in the coming year. I don't know what 2023 holds for you or for me. But I know that as I sit at the start of the year, my only goal is to keep pruning the garden of my soul and to keep making more room for Jesus - because what he can grow is going to be so much better than anything I can create on my own.




You Keep Hope Alive

Days may be darkest
But Your light is greater
You light our way
God, You light our way
When evil is rising
You're rising higher
With power to save
With power to save
You keep hope alive
You keep hope alive
From the beginning to end
Your word never fails
You keep hope alive
Because You are alive
Jesus, You are alive
Death had a stronghold
But Your life was stronger
Rose from the grave
Rose up from the grave
When evil is rising
You're rising higher
With power to save
With power to save
You keep hope alive
You keep hope alive
From the beginning to end
Your word never fails
You keep hope alive
Because You are alive
Jesus, You are alive
There's hope in the morning
Hope in the evening
Hope because You're living
Hope because You're breathing
There's hope in the breaking
Hope in the sorrow
Hope for this moment
My hope for tomorrow
There's hope in the morning
Hope in the evening
Hope because You're living
Hope because You're breathing
There's hope in the breaking
Hope in the sorrow
Hope for this moment
My hope for tomorrow
You keep hope alive
You keep hope alive
From the beginning to end
Your word never fails
You keep hope alive
Because You are alive
Jesus, You are alive
You keep hope alive
You keep hope alive
From the beginning to end
Your word never fails
You keep hope alive
Because You are alive
Jesus, You are alive
There is hope
You keep hope alive
You keep hope alive
You keep hope alive
Your word never ever fails
You keep hope alive
Jesus, You are alive
You keep hope alive