My Life as a Garden.

Monday: January 21, 2013
 

Today I woke up to the hot, bright, and beautiful sun peeking through my window. 

 

It was time to start the day.

Just like every morning here in Ecuador, we have our devotion and breakfast. This usually consists of reading our Jesus Calling devotion book and scriptures from the bible, eating toast, cereal, and fruit, drinking juice and/or coffee and talking about all of the crazy dreams we had throughout the night. 
 

                                                        

 

                                                                This is one of my favorite parts of the day. 

I love the time we get to spend together in the word, I love the sun that shines through the window that warms my soul, and I love the fact that I get to wake up each and every morning and feel the presence of God.

It is a beautiful thing.

*On a typical ministry day after breakfast, we walk to a local school and spend about 2 hours playing Simon says, doing the hokey pokey, repeating head, shoulders, knees, and toes a million times (or at least it seems), teaching English, loving on these beautiful children and much, much more. Then we come home and make lunch, set up for the after school program, and go from about 2:00-5:30 playing games, worshipping, leading vacation bible school lessons, teaching the children about God and his love for them, making crafts, and having a snack, which finally leads to our goodbyes for the day. Then we clean up ministry and go straight to making dinner (we are starving by this point), we clean up dinner, have team time/feedback, get ready for bed, and pass out…

      
    
 

So with all that being said, today was NOT a typical ministry day…we had the day off for relaxation, grocery shopping, cleaning, and time to rejuvenate for the upcoming week of ministry. 
 

After breakfast, our host Ana asked if we could help out in the garden for a couple hours.

So that is just what we did.

We got into our workout clothes, got our ipods ready to go, and went straight to work…
 

I have never had my own garden nor have I ever really thought much about having one, but from what I understand, when you have a garden, you are supposed to water the plants so they grow and pick out the weeds once in a while so they don’t hide the beautiful plants and flowers. 
 

Well you see, in this particular garden, this was not the case…
 

The garden was so overgrown that it was hard to distinguish between the plants and the weeds. Sometimes what I thought was a weed, ended up being a plant. It was hard to tell the difference between the two because the garden had not been given any attention and everything seemed to run together
It was overwhelming and left a lot of work and sorting out to do.
 

As I was listening to my music, picking through the weeds, with the hot sun beaming down, I started to think about my life as a garden. 

                           
 

My life has been filled with overgrown issues and obstacles that I never wanted to deal with. Instead of investing time into “cleaning out my garden,” I just let the weeds grow bigger and bigger.  As a result, my life was being taken over with regret, self-doubt, and lies from the enemy. The more I ignored the problems within, I noticed my circumstances would only grow worse. The peace and beautifulness that was once in my life, had been taken over. 
 

I can’t stand looking at this overgrown garden of mine any longer, so I have decided it is time to clean it out and get rid of the weeds. 
 

It will not be an easy process because I never took the time to deal with the issues as they sprouted up in the first place. Some of the roots have grown so deep into the soil, and I realize that they will be harder to pull out and get rid of…but it is important as I am pulling up the weeds to make sure that I  get to the bottom of the root, so that the weed is gone for good. 

These next 10 months as I spend weeding out my garden in search of the truth, it will not be easy.  But I know that God is going to help me to uncover the beauty that has been covered up. He will help me sort through the chaos in the garden of my life. 
 

I am going to stop listening to the lies that have been ingrained in my head throughout my life. I will stop believing that I will never measure up, I will stop comparing my life to others, and I will stop believing that my past is too much (or too bad) for God to ever forgive me.

The truth is that God has been waiting all along for me to give my garden to him. He wants to help me sort through the mess and bring this beautiful garden he created back to life. Once my garden is cleaned out, it will be easier to get rid of the weeds as they sprout because they will be easier to recognize. The lies from the enemey will no longer  be a distraction in my life because my vision will be clear and my garden will be refreshed.
 

As I have been weeding through my garden, getting rid of old weeds that do not belong, I am finally seeing a garden that is coming to life, full of color, and more beautiful than ever….the way a garden was intended to be. 

 

*God is my gardener, and I trust that he will bring these dead plants to life and get rid of the nasty weeds that are hiding the true beauty that lies within.

“ I am the true vine; my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that does not produce fruit. And He trims and cleans every branch that produces fruit. You are already clean because of the words I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. A branch cannot produce fruit alone but must remain in the vine. In the same way, you cannot produce fruit alone but must remain in me.”
                                                                                  – John 15: 1-4

Much LOVE from Ecuador.