Sunday, June 28, 2009

Perspectives from a Garden

Posted by Tracy Wainwright at 3:59 PM 0 comments
One lesson I'm consistently reminded of while working in my garden is how different things can look based on my perspective. As I squat to weed I get everything I can see. When I stand up and lean over, I see a whole new set of weeds. As I move down the row or to the other side of the row I once again see weeds that were missed from my previous position and perspective. The different things I notice and see as I change my physical perspective reminds me of how important my mental/emotional perspective is.

As a mom my perspective has changed drastically over the years. I was talking with a close friend this week about my transformation from overwhelmed, stressed, tied-down-feeling new mom to a peaceful, joyful, love-being-home mom of four. Many things have changed in my life over the last six years, since I was a new, first-time mom. But none of them have created circumstances that would make life less stressful.

Being a very independent and selfish person (two qualities that are hailed and pushed in our culture) I was not ready to be on call for a demanding infant 24/7. I had always wanted to be a mom, loved my baby, and was grateful for her, but was stressed at what the reality of being a new mom meant. But when she was about a year old God put a Bible Study in my hands that began to change my heart and my perspective on myself, my focus in life, and thus on being a mom. As I began to change my perspective from "what about me?", "but I deserve...," and "I wish things were different," (so they'd make things easier on me) I began to truly grasp the things that I was desperately chasing. Instead my perspective became more focused on growing closer to God so that I could more clearly see His will and let Him work in my life. My perspective on myself began to change (seeing myself for the selfish person I am), my perspective on my husband began to change (seeing all the wonderful things he does instead of nit-picking the things he doesn't do), and my perspective on my children began to change (seeing them for all the wonderful things they bring to my life, not the work and energy they cost me.)

Having the right perspective is still something that I pray about and work on consistently. God has to remind me through His Word and every day things like moving around in my garden to see new weeds to remind me that I also need to check my perspective on my life and make sure that I'm seeing things from His truth, and not from my selfish desires.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Lessons from a Garden

Posted by Tracy Wainwright at 6:44 AM 0 comments
Each year, for the last four years, I have planted a vegetable garden. Each year it seems to get a little bit bigger and a little bit more diverse. And each year God uses my garden to feed not only my body, but also my mind and spirit. As I spend hours a week in my garden - checking my plants, pulling weeds, harvesting vegetables -there is lots of time to think, process and pray, even though I always have one ear and the frequent eye on the children to make sure they're doing what they should be doing.

As I work, I'm reminded of many past lessons and occasionally receive new lessons. It has been quite amazing to me to see all that God can do in me while performing the simple tasks of gardening. The first, and not least, of which is the fact that I am gardening at all.

Growing up my mom had a garden. No, not just a garden, she had a yard full of vegetables. We lived on two and a half acres, and the garden took up at least half an acre. And I hated it. I didn't want to spend my precious hours pulling weeds and picking vegetables. I had more important things to do, like call my friends, listen to the latest top 40 hits, and sunbathe. But even though I hated the work of the garden, I loved the produce from it. Our favorite dinners growing up were when my dad wasn't going to be home to eat, because we would have a fresh-out-of-the-garden dinner (you know how men are about meat and potatoes.) And it's that love of fresh veggies that God instilled in me early that brought me to planting my own garden and opening myself up for Him to work in me through it time and time again.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Perspectives from a Garden

One lesson I'm consistently reminded of while working in my garden is how different things can look based on my perspective. As I squat to weed I get everything I can see. When I stand up and lean over, I see a whole new set of weeds. As I move down the row or to the other side of the row I once again see weeds that were missed from my previous position and perspective. The different things I notice and see as I change my physical perspective reminds me of how important my mental/emotional perspective is.

As a mom my perspective has changed drastically over the years. I was talking with a close friend this week about my transformation from overwhelmed, stressed, tied-down-feeling new mom to a peaceful, joyful, love-being-home mom of four. Many things have changed in my life over the last six years, since I was a new, first-time mom. But none of them have created circumstances that would make life less stressful.

Being a very independent and selfish person (two qualities that are hailed and pushed in our culture) I was not ready to be on call for a demanding infant 24/7. I had always wanted to be a mom, loved my baby, and was grateful for her, but was stressed at what the reality of being a new mom meant. But when she was about a year old God put a Bible Study in my hands that began to change my heart and my perspective on myself, my focus in life, and thus on being a mom. As I began to change my perspective from "what about me?", "but I deserve...," and "I wish things were different," (so they'd make things easier on me) I began to truly grasp the things that I was desperately chasing. Instead my perspective became more focused on growing closer to God so that I could more clearly see His will and let Him work in my life. My perspective on myself began to change (seeing myself for the selfish person I am), my perspective on my husband began to change (seeing all the wonderful things he does instead of nit-picking the things he doesn't do), and my perspective on my children began to change (seeing them for all the wonderful things they bring to my life, not the work and energy they cost me.)

Having the right perspective is still something that I pray about and work on consistently. God has to remind me through His Word and every day things like moving around in my garden to see new weeds to remind me that I also need to check my perspective on my life and make sure that I'm seeing things from His truth, and not from my selfish desires.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Lessons from a Garden

Each year, for the last four years, I have planted a vegetable garden. Each year it seems to get a little bit bigger and a little bit more diverse. And each year God uses my garden to feed not only my body, but also my mind and spirit. As I spend hours a week in my garden - checking my plants, pulling weeds, harvesting vegetables -there is lots of time to think, process and pray, even though I always have one ear and the frequent eye on the children to make sure they're doing what they should be doing.

As I work, I'm reminded of many past lessons and occasionally receive new lessons. It has been quite amazing to me to see all that God can do in me while performing the simple tasks of gardening. The first, and not least, of which is the fact that I am gardening at all.

Growing up my mom had a garden. No, not just a garden, she had a yard full of vegetables. We lived on two and a half acres, and the garden took up at least half an acre. And I hated it. I didn't want to spend my precious hours pulling weeds and picking vegetables. I had more important things to do, like call my friends, listen to the latest top 40 hits, and sunbathe. But even though I hated the work of the garden, I loved the produce from it. Our favorite dinners growing up were when my dad wasn't going to be home to eat, because we would have a fresh-out-of-the-garden dinner (you know how men are about meat and potatoes.) And it's that love of fresh veggies that God instilled in me early that brought me to planting my own garden and opening myself up for Him to work in me through it time and time again.
 

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