Friends
Have you ever had to deal with an uninvited guest? Perhaps it’s a welcome surprise like an old friend you haven’t seen in years. Maybe the guest is not on your welcome list. This summer, I fit the latter description. I had some uninvited guests show up in my garden, and they were definitely not welcome!
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“But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!””
Psalm 40:16 – NIV
If you have followed my blog for awhile, you know that I adore my garden. It’s one of the best things I have embraced in these retirement years. My flowers fascinate me. Pass by my house any given morning and you will likely find me puttering with a pot of happy blooms or giving my plants a drink.
Every morning after my front porch meditation time, I make the rounds, checking each of my flower pots and all of my plant beds. I love to watch things grow, and I tell my plants so. It might sound crazy, but I feel quite sure my flowers appreciate my words of affirmation! Ha!
But this year, I feel like I have been fighting an uphill battle to keep my precious plants alive! Not because of a lack of water. We have had pretty good rain, and I supplement with a watering system. My issues are not from lack of fertilizer or good soil. I offer my green friends a regular dose of Miracle-Gro that is quite appreciated. No, my problem this year is uninvited guests.
First, there was the bunny invasion. Yes, I said, bunnies! Those cute little furry friends that hop around in the spring time and look oh, so adorable. They are adorable alright, until they started eating all my freshly planted annuals and then moved on to my perennials. Yep, they chewed up three lantana, seven zinnias, and chomped on my dill. Even worse, they chewed my cone flowers down to a nub! My cone flowers, of all things, yes, they sure did! Can you believe that? What nerve!
Next, came the squirrels. I have had them drop by unannounced before, but this time, they showed a definite preference for tomatoes. Yes, my beautiful Better Boy tomatoes! They didn’t ask permission. They simply reached in, grabbed a tasty tomato, especially the really red ripe ones, and settled down for a few serious bites. Then they had the nerve to abandon them, half-eaten. I have found tomatoes on the arm of my Adirondack chair, in the middle of my rock patio, and even poised on the top support brace for my swingset. Can you believe their nerve? At least have the manners to finish what’s on your plate, especially since I didn’t serve it to you in the first place. Ugh!
Finally, the pesky vine that loves my drift roses showed up again for its August debut. Boy, did it put on a show? I turn my back for a few days, and it just took over like it owned the place!
Some of you are chuckling right about now. Some of my fellow gardeners are commiserating with me, I am quite sure. Thank you! I appreciate the support!
These pesky interlopers do more than frustrate me, they make me ponder other kinds of uninvited guests. These guests target a different type of garden, the garden of our souls. Not only are these guests unwelcome, but they bring significant consequences with them when they enter our midst.
Like those rabbits, regret has a way of showing up and wreaking havoc. It’s natural to struggle with circumstances that don’t turn out as planned. Life is full of losses, and of course, we regret them. We wish it had turned out differently. We want to undo the harm that was done. We want to fix what cannot be fixed. We desperately want a do-over. We want to go back and make it better, and we can’t.
It’s natural to have regrets, but lingering on those regrets is risky. The more we shift our focus on the past, the more we ruminate on what might have been, the more likely regret will find a way to damage our future. Our regrets begin to gnaw at us, wearing us down, destroying our contentment. The tender shoots of new life are ripped away as our focus is fixed only on the tragedies of yesterday.
Regret invites resentment into the garden, and resentment only multiplies the damage. Like those pesky squirrels, resentment takes a bite out of all that is beautiful in life. It takes one bite, then another, and then leaves what’s left to rot. No good comes from it. It leaves us disgruntled and disheartened. We no longer see the good around us, and we let our guard down. Despairing and distracted, we allow yet another visitor to drop in unannounced, one that can do some serious damage.
Bitterness shows up and destroys everything it touches. Bitterness is the vine that takes root and will not let go. It starts small, hidden in the dark spaces, but all the while wrapping itself tightly around the base, poised to spread when you least expect it. Like that vine attacking my drift roses, bitterness spreads like wildfire, obliterating the beauty beneath its menacing tendrils, choking out the tender buds of new life that could have bloomed.
Friends, guard your garden well. Accept what you cannot change, and let the regrets of the past go. My wonderful counselor once asked me a life-changing question, “What would it be like to feel the way you feel, and then let it go?” Feel the sadness. Allow the anger. Vent the frustration, then let it all go.. Don’t let resentment and bitterness find a foothold. Let the regrets go.
I yanked that vine out of my drift roses. I harvested as many tomatoes as I could, and accepted a few losses. I found a solution called Repel and doused all my plants with a generous dose. Apparently, the bunnies didn’t like the smell and moved on for now. I’m investigating more natural deterrents for next spring because I know that they will be back. Like regret, they don’t give up easily. Still, my job is to be the gardener, and I fully intend to prevail! In my backyard as well as my heart, I am determined to win the fight and rid myself of uninvited guests!
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“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”
Psalm 40:2 – NIV
PRAYER
O Father God, we need Your strength. Hard things happen in this life. Help us to handle those hard things and not hang onto regret. Protect us from resentment and bitterness. Keep our eyes fixed on You, for You are our God, and we do not walk alone.
In the Mighty Name of Jesus, we pray,
Amen
Blessings,
Anita
-APS 8/21/2023
Faith Beyond Sight 