My Gardens, by Nancy Peterson

MY GARDEN
1990

I love my garden!  This is such a wonderful place to be.  I love all the colors and forms and light patterns through the trees.  I love feeling the breeze and hearing the running water.  There are flower beds here, fruit trees and great open spaces.  What an abundance of beautiful handiwork! 

This garden is new to these little ones by me.  They are so delicate.  I hope they’ll find joy here.  Their senses are filled with new sights and sounds and feelings.  They trust me completely.  Their survival depends on me.  Sometimes this responsibility is weighty, but I find great joy in being close to their new life.  

I have a beloved coworker in my garden.  His love and companionship make me whole!  We cultivate this part of the garden together.  It was what we both wanted most in this life.  We knew we would find great joy here.  Of all the treasures in our abundant garden we love these little ones the most.  They make this season in our garden so magical.  

We love to watch these little ones.  We marvel at their tender shoots as they push forward.  We’re thrilled at their spontaneous budding.  The blossoms unfold in perfect form and we cradle the confidant pedals against the hidden frost.  We wipe away tears of discouragement as the petals wither and offer a vision of the forthcoming fruit.  We dig about the roots.  We fertilize.  We water.  Patience comes easily when we understand God’s gift of time. 

It’s not hard to understand the feelings these little ones are experiencing in this garden.  We’re growing here too.  We are still trying to discover our full potential and stretch ourselves upward.  We understand frustration and sorrow, as well as the joy of growth.

It’s not always sunny in my garden.  In fact, at times, strong winds rip through the growth pulling at our very roots.  But, if we are willing, nature’s pruning of the deadwood inspires new growth, and we enjoy new life that we hadn’t even anticipated.    

And there are weeds.  They usually pop us when the garden doesn’t demand constant care.  If they’re not pulled they grow quickly and begin to obscure our view of the important things in the garden. 

But we are not left alone to take care of ourselves here.  We have majestic shade trees.  These are gifts from past generations.  Not only do they break strong winds and offer merciful relief on hot days, but their very presence in every season reminds us of the principles by which they have grown so tall.  These must be preserved.   

I love the work in my garden.  These tender starts require a lot of care.  My most important work in this season is to ensure that they have the best possible environment in which to grow so they can achieve their full potential.  The law of the harvest renews my hope that our hard work here will bring us great joy for a long time to come. 

This garden is so beautiful!  I am so happy here.  Of course, we don’t take credit for all the beauty and joy in this garden.  For this we thank the gardener.  He gave us this garden and planted us in it. 

Life won’t always be the same for me here.  These little ones will soon be big enough to grow on their own.  And we too will have changed.  We will be taller.  My influence with these growing near to me will be less intimate but if I try I can grow as tall as some of the shade trees and spread my influence over a greater part of the garden.  And I will still be close to these that are growing up by my side.  I know I’ll find joy in being close to them and in watching them continue to grow. 

And my beloved coworker, he will always be my dearest friend.  The strength of our relationship comes from our growing together as we pass through all the seasons in this garden.  We share everything that is important to us.  We understand each other and have helped to prune each other along the way.  We don’t spend all of our time together here in the garden but at night we’re always reunited.  I climb into his branches and give my trust to him. 

This is our garden.  We knew we would be happy here.     

Seasons of Change

2010

I’m still here, in my garden.  It’s a very good place to be!  I would say, I am very happy here, 20 years down the road!!  There is a lot of activity in this garden, involving many good people.  Through it all there is a feeling of peace and of purpose.  The garden is bathed in light much of the day.  I love the light!  And we can still feel the love it brings radiating into the night, reminding us that the gardener is near.  Although there is always a lot of work to be done in this garden, my constant care is not required for cultivating every field.  Many of our trees have matured now, bearing rich fruits seemingly on their own – fruits of faith, fruits of friendship, fruits of eternal joy!  What wonderful gifts these are for me!  I am grateful for this garden and the many gifts it brings!!   

I still find great joy in attending to the work that is to be done here!  And there is nothing I love more than to help our children grow!  My main job in this garden is to introduce them to the gardener, who is the source of all that is good.  His love comes into focus for them as they learn to live by the law of the harvest.  There are so many good gifts he has given us here!  For me, my greatest gift is still this cherished association with them.  The brightness of their eternal spirits has not been dimmed by the darker things of this world.  I am so grateful!  With them, there is simple satisfaction in the daily routine.  I feel blessed every day.  They are the gardener’s children!  I feel his love.  This work enlarges my soul and defines who I am.  

In many ways, my garden has changed.  For one, it has grown!  Not only are the children older now, but there are many more of them!  My capacity has increased in many ways. My life feels rich and full!  This is the very life of life, everything I ever hoped for!!

I acknowledge that a few of the changes in my garden have been difficult for me.  The hardest of these changes are the ones that have actually required me to stand still, and watch as the master gardener invites those who have been near me the longest - who are so beautiful and strong, to leave my garden, one by one, for the purpose of cultivating fields of their own.  They live and work in places outside of my sphere.  They have no need for my garden here, yet here is where I must stay.  It is humbling to behold their capacity in carrying out their work with such surety and love! They know the gardener well!  My life’s greatest work in raising them up unto him has come to an end.  As their lives and their hearts move on, I feel a tender sadness.  Fortunately, I am learning not to fear the distance between us now.  I know the gardener!  His promises are sure.  He fills my void with his love.  A new and sweet understanding of the law of sacrifice is etched deeply into my soul.  This is a part of life I would not miss.  

Having said this, I must say that there is still great joy in my garden now, with greater peace and strength than I have known before.  This is because the gardener is near!  Throughout every season, my sights have been lifted steadily toward him.  He is the true source of my strength and my joy!  I sense who I must be in his sight.  How sweet are the gifts of love which he bestows on all who seek him here!  They give power and peace to our lives.  My heart is at home in my garden.  And happily, for yet a little season, I will still be allowed to tend these younger ones that I have near.  What a blessing that they grow so slowly!  They are his best gifts to me!  I feel his love.  

Now, I call this my garden because this is my story, and that’s how I feel in my labors here.  But this is a united garden, and my sweet co-worker still works diligently with me here.  This garden was given to us both by the one whose garden gives us life.  Together we cultivate its fruits, though from different sides of the field.  For some reason, it seems like we’re laboring from the outside in, with him on the far side and me over here.  I seldom see his efforts in the daily rhythm of life.  But from our separate fields, I can always feel his tender heart and righteous ways.  They bring me peace.  His sacrifices and faith breathe life into our little garden!  I love him for his love, and his many gifts to me!  The delicious fruits of our harvest we will always share.  And in the quiet nighttime hours we still come together and rest in the branches of our love.  We find strength and peace in the unity of our purpose.  

My co-worker and I have developed many skills over the years, yet there are so many things left to learn!  We live out our lives by faith as we each try to follow the gardener’s plan for us.  He knows best how to help us grow!  I find peace in knowing that I am not responsible for the growth of my partner.  Our parallel lives of service will continue to pull our hearts ever closer until we become fully united as one.  We love the gardener!  We trust his ways. We will wait patiently for the day when we can be sent out to cultivate his fields of love together.  

In this current season, we have a tender new seedling growing in our garden.  She is a rare and precious transplant from a far off field.  She is one of striking beauty and startling resilience.  Her place near the gardener’s heart is apparent.  She has been brought here to be loved and to be healed by him.  We are grateful for his trust. She has endured dangerous storms already in her short life.  And there are still times when her young heart aches afresh from promises not fulfilled.  It is our true desire that she receive here all that the gardener would have her receive.  She will be responsible for the bearing of much fruit for him in the generations to come!     

With my constant attention no longer required for the growing children who remain, I am often invited to work in other people’s fields.  This too brings satisfaction to my soul!  With each new opportunity comes increased light and an awareness of greater things.  I've noticed that through my service, the younger ones in my garden develop skills as well.  It certainly hasn’t hurt them any to learned to stretch and grow with me! Not only are we allowed to feel the gardener’s love for his other children, but the eternal principles of the garden are impressed deeply into our souls.  Through these experiences, we are permitted to share in the master’s joy and the harvest of his love! What mercy is to be found in the gardens of life!!!

My work clothes are....getting a little worn out.  Too bad that we only get one pair!  They’re showing unmistakable signs of the passing seasons of my life.  I remember the time when they always seemed fresh and new!  I understand that they will fall completely apart by the time my work is finished here.  My only hope is that I can first accomplish all that I need to do!  I don’t know how I feel about being numbered among the experienced!  My seasons here I now wear on my face, like the rings of a tree.  There is, however, something very satisfying in giving one’s whole self to this important work.  We only have one chance to try!  Fortunately, despite this deciduous decline, our eternal spirits continue to shine bright.  Perhaps my real inner self will become more visible through this fading fabric I’m in.  

As the seasons of our lives roll along in our garden I see many new opportunities for growth.  Things are looking good for the harvest ahead!  I sense that our boarders will continue to be broken down - boarders between our garden and the other gardens of the field.  Distances between me and my precious loved ones will decrease.  Soon, the boundaries between us and our posterity yet unborn will be removed, and the lives and worlds of loved ones passed on will come more clearly into view.  There are coming to us even now, delightful, prepared children, raised up with care in other workers’ fields.  These are gifts of the Master to help our children grow, and cultivate the fields they will share.  I love these dear friends, gifts of mercy and love!  They bring power for the sweet harvest yet to come.  We rejoice in our posterity, who learn of his ways, and honor us with their lives and their love!  

For myself, as I look ahead, I see the truths of eternity continuing to distill upon my soul.  What joys I find in coming to know the gardener, and all his holy ways!  It is my hope in this lifetime to see our gardens come full circle with a coming home of the generations that surround us.   My inner desire is for a binding of the hearts with each of these loved ones - extensions of myself.  I rejoice in the promise of eternity with all of the precious people my heart has been given to love!