Lessons from My Garden

“A man scatters seed on the ground…the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.”
Mark 4:26-27 (NIV)

My life-long love affair with hydrangeas began when I was only five years old. I loved to walk down the block to my Mam-Maw’s house and see her big “snowball” bushes that guarded the entrance to her front porch. I was too young to know that the large bright blue beauties were actually hydrangeas, but they looked like blue snowballs to me so that’s what I called them.

Our own personal journey with hydrangeas began about twenty years ago at a time when Bruce and I had two kids in college and our finances were really tight. For Mother’s Day I asked Bruce for "a" single hydrangea plant as my Mother's Day gift. Bruce went to Aldrich Gardens, bought 6 hydrangea plants, and I almost had a heart attack! Of course nothing bloomed that first year. A couple of the plants had to be moved the next year when we realized that they weren't getting enough sunlight. Eventually, however, my hydrangeas grew and bore beautiful blooms. Over the years we gradually introduced some different varieties of hydrangeas: French lace, Nikko, oakleaf, and limelights to name a few. But my Endless Summer hydrangeas continue to be my favorite.  Each spring I anxiously anticipate our hydrangea harvest much as a child looks forward to Christmas.

Last year in early April during our Covid pandemic quarantine, I began to look closely at my hydrangea bushes expecting to see a number of flower buds.  The hydrangea leaves looked large, lush, healthy, and promising, but surprisingly there were no flower buds.  At first, I just thought the season might be late or perhaps I was looking too early, but one day Bruce came inside and gloomily said, “Not one bloom.” I grieved and grumbled, “Really, Lord? First the pandemic, then the mandatory quarantine, and now barren hydrangea bushes.”

Eventually, however, much to our surprise and delight, our 2020 hydrangea harvest arrived in late July. To be sure, it was late and certainly not as plentiful as most years, but it arrived nonetheless. And each hydrangea bloom brought us much joy and gratitude. We didn’t take one hydrangea bloom for granted and were thankful for each flower.

Fast forward to April 2021 and I was once again looking for some tiny hydrangea buds, the promise of bountiful blooms to come. Bruce and I still weren’t sure if last year’s hydrangea harvesting schedule was a one-off or a preview of harvests to come. We both were thrilled when we began to see dozens of new buds growing on the bushes below our deck. The hydrangea bushes were loaded with buds. Week by week throughout the spring, I monitored the buds as they began to bloom and grow. I worried that so many buds might cause the bushes to produce small mops, but the flowers’ growth was really out of our hands. Bruce and I water and fertilize the plants, but the growth and fruit, indeed our ultimate hydrangea harvest, belongs to God.

Today’s Bible Bits verse is taken from Jesus’ Parable of the Growing Seed found in Mark 4:26-29. In describing the Kingdom of God, Jesus said:

“This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

The Kingdom of God is much like my hydrangea garden. Author Terry Johnson writing in his wonderful book The Parables of Jesus says, “Our role in growing the kingdom is to sow the word and gather the fruit. Growth is not our responsibility. A higher power must do the real work. The sower “goes to bed,” says Jesus, clearly emphasizing human passivity with respect to the growth of the kingdom of God.”

Our job is to sow the seed and then gather the harvest.  God gives the growth and produces the harvest. A bountiful harvest not only produces fruit; it also brings us joy and God glory. (John 15:8)

Harvest joy is multiplied when it is gladly shared with others. This week I invited a young mom and her two young daughters to come and cut hydrangeas from our garden. All of the photos in today’s post are courtesy of designer Holly Hollon. I shared flowers with Holly. Holly shared her photos with me. We both are sharing them with all of you. And in God’s economy, our shared joy is multiplied, not divided. So it is with the Kingdom of God.

God is indeed the Lord of the Harvest. (Matthew 9:38)