Today was (hopefully) the last hot day of the year. I spent some time this morning cleaning up the garden - pulling weeds, yanking out tomato plants, and taking down supports. I get so frustrated with my garden during the growing season - it's always a mess! As I dug into the dirt, it occurred to me that my garden is only "neat" between the end of one season and the beginning of the next....when there's nothing growing. When my garden is disheveled and disorderly, my garden is producing the most fruit (or veggies or herbs).
I started thinking that maybe I work too hard to keep my life neat and looking good, but that when I do, maybe I'm not producing any fruit. Maybe the "messiest" times in my life - when I can't see where I'm supposed to be going, when I wonder what God is doing my life, when things aren't going my way - are the times that I'm growing and maturing fruit.
