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| Portmerion |
The
early part of 2014 saw us making the decision to try our hand at a spot of
gardening, ordering a variety of seeds that we intended to plant at the
appropriate time in a range of pots that could be found in the garden.
‘Sowing
season’ seemed to find itself in the midst of much busyness, and it could be
said that our enthusiasm and attention to detail for this particular ‘outdoor activity’
was not on a level to produce any horticultural show first place rosettes!
With packets
at the ready, two large prepared pots were brought into the house to make some
Sweetcorn seeds warm and welcome.
Seeds
in situ the days passed with watering taking place and bright sun aiding the
gestation.
As the
weeks rolled on, green shoots soon turned to small seedlings and then on to
more established plants.
One pot
saw the realization of just one plant, and was duly transferred into the
outdoors remaining in its same home. The
second pot had found itself giving birth to two very different plants, one very
green and robust, the other looking as if it would not live to see another
day! As the more established plant
remained in its container the weak and sad looking candidate very nearly found
itself heading for the compost heap!
Rescued
from its fate what seemed like a mansion, for this scrawny seedling to live in,
was found and its roots embedded in some fresh soil.
So what
happened as the weeks rolled into months?
The
plants began to establish themselves yet more, and slowly but surely it was
becoming evident that ‘baby scrawn’ was becoming stronger and more fruitful
than we could have ever imagined, even to the point of overtaking its ‘siblings’!
In fact the only ‘fruit’ from our Sweetcorn sowing came from the very plant that
at one point had looked like it could produce nothing.
Sitting
in the sun and being overwhelmed by the progress that had been made we found
ourselves relating what we saw to life.
Do we
sometimes feel weak and inadequate; finding it hard to produce anything of
purpose and character? All the good in us drained by, the confinement of
circumstances and situations or the other ‘plants of life’ surrounding us, sapping
us for their own benefit and promotion.
Could
it be time to ‘replant’ ourselves into an environment, where the ‘soil’ of new
thinking will feed, water and nurture the good in us; the bigger ‘container’ inspiring us to try
something new and different to gain confidence and strength, producing a life
that has meaning and value?
Our
minds reminded of the account of a story told by Jesus:
‘…The
seed that fell on the fresh soil represents the person taking in and understanding
the goodness of My words, and producing a harvest beyond all wildest dreams…’ (Matthew
13 v 23)
