Ah! I love this time of year! It's garden time again! It doesn't look like much yet, but I couldn't resist sharing what is happening in my little plot of land. Also, it's fun to compare the bareness at the beginning of the season with the (hopefully!) lush growth later.
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| A blank slate |
I periodically recommend gardening on my blog. If you are struggling to afford a GAPS lifestyle, it is really one of the best ways possible to supplement your diet with fresh, local, organic produce. Also, gardening comes with other benefits. People who garden get vitamin D from being out in the sun. They get exercise. They tend to be less depressed. It is relaxing, and contact with the earth promotes healthy regulation of your sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, helping your stressed body to become calm.
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| Baby Mizuna - Newborns! |
For me, personally, gardening is one of most therapeutic activities I do for my health (and enjoyment!). Plus, it is so rewarding! And amazing! Every year, as I stick those tiny little seeds in the earth, I feel a little sense of trepidation. Will it
really work? Will those dry little specks of dust really
sprout and
grow? And then... They do! Amazing! A miracle really. Gardening is one of those activities that impress upon my heart the power and glory of a Creator. All I do is stick those seeds in the ground and pour some water on them and let the sun shine down on them. But what makes them
grow? I know we can explain biologically the process of germination and plant growth, but it doesn't explain
why. It is still God that makes that process happen every single time. And He does it
for us. A little picture of His grace. He provides food. He gives rain and sun to grow it for us. A picture of our utter dependence upon Him and His amazing grace towards us sinful rebellious creatures. A picture that is visualized most fully in the sending of His Son, Jesus Christ to be our "true bread and true drink" (John 6). Christ, who, like the little seeds in my garden, submitted himself to death and burial in the earth in my place for my sin, and
then, miracle of miracles, rose up from death to new life (like my seeds!) to give me (and anyone else who would turn from their sin to put all their trust in Him) forgiveness and new life in Himself. Beautiful, isn't it?
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| Purple Muscari |
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:1–10 NAS95)
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| Daffodils - The Happiest Flower! |
Just like those little seeds can't boast that they had anything to do with their new life and growth, every Christian has no boast except Jesus Christ. I see many parables of the Christian life in my garden, and it feeds my soul even as it feeds my body.
So my GAPS tip of the day: Get out and garden! Need help getting started? There are plenty of gardening forums online. A great way to design your garden to be almost completely self-sufficient is to create a "Back to Eden" garden. You can watch the documentary and find helpful tips at their website along with other helpful sites listed below:
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| Kale - Some Plants are Survivors |
