Letting Your Garden Winter

The last three weeks have been busy as Fall has officially made its debut in Colorado! The trees up and down my street are glorious shades of yellow, coral, orange, and red, and the almost constant breeze makes the leaves fall from their branches and shower the streets with lovely colors. And then they get dry and crunchy. There is nothing better than going for a walk and stepping on crunchy leaves.

But it also means that I have been rushing to bring in the harvest and prepare my garden for winter. I had a goal of making sure I rested well in November and December (just like I’ve had a goal to rest all year long right?), so that means I am hustling to not only bring in the various vegetables and fruits that have grown all summer long, but also process them and do something with them. I discovered a few years ago that I used more of my harvest when I actually prepared meals. Making three of a meal instead of just one does take a bit of extra time and preparation. But, it is so nice to have healthy choices in the freezer for those inevitable I-have-no-idea-whats-for-dinner-why-are-you-looking-at-me-like-that days. Thus, October a busier month for me.

This year, it’s not just the endless batches of breads, sauces, and dried herbs that I am trying to manage, it’s also the garden clean up. I need to turn the soil in each planter box and rip out all the plants and many of the roots so that they will be one step closer to being ready in the spring. And all the work to winterize my garden has made me a bit introspective about how our souls are like gardens. In order to be able to plant, and grow, and harvest. There must first come the painful and toilsome work of ripping out, tearing down, and throwing away. And then the cold, dark, winter comes, and very few things can grow and thrive through winter. Most things, even Perennial plants, go into a state of hibernation and waiting.

We all need times of rest and healing to recover and be restored to a place where we can support life. After Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, he recounts in Galatians 1:15-18 that he spent three years in Arabia. This was a time of formation and study for him. I daresay he was not producing much fruit here because one would think that it would have been recorded in detail like his later missionary journeys. God was working in Paul during this time to tear up what had been planted previously, and sow seeds of truth and righteousness from grace—not from the law—in him. Furthermore, he wasn’t going to be growing and doing the same things he had been—there was a new fruit prepared for him, the Gentiles.

 

These dry dark times in our lives should not scare us because we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are never alone or far from God because His Spirit lives within us. These times can be hard though, it can make us question our worth, purpose, direction, and visibility to God and others. But these times are also necessary. We need to have time to be renewed and restored if we want to be transformed. In order to be more like Jesus, we have to be willing to let the old go, even if it has to be ripped and cut out just as I am getting ready to do with my tomatoes.

We have to have the winter rain and snow poured over us to cleanse us. And, we even need fertilizer and manure to be mixed in to make us fertile again for God’s work that He has set out for us to do. If it feels like you’re wading through mud and poo right now, you probably are. But it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting dirty from it, it might be that you are being prepared for a full, maximum, amazing life that bears much fruit and blesses many.

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. – John 10:10

May your fall be colorful, and your winter seasoned with everything you need to live a rich and vibrant life with Christ as your redeemer.