Sometimes gardening is ugly. I wish it weren’t. I wish I could just plant the seeds, tend the garden and have abundant fruit. In my memories, Nick and I have many years our gardens grew like that; but I could be choosing to remember the success and not the struggle.

It seems every garden since he passed away has been a struggle for me. This year has been no exception; a situation made even worse by my decision to share it all with anyone who would read along.

Failed crops, heat and drought, squirrels. Inertia, fear, doubt. Sometimes I dread going out to the garden for fear of what I may find.

Today I found yellow blossoms and tiny green tomatoes. Hope. God has not finished with me or my garden just yet.

These blossoms, these green tomatoes, they are a second chance for my garden, a second chance for me.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way and sin no more.” John 8:11

“Second” chance might be a little self-righteous on my part. Three hundred and eightieth chance? So many chances, so many failures requiring additional chances, that perhaps I have become complacent. And yet, I want that fruit. The Holy Spirit within me wants to express Himself to the world; He wants me to bear that fruit as well.

And there are new blossoms and new green tomatoes. He is giving me new opportunities. I treasure these new tomatoes, even more than the ones that come six weeks ago. I fuss over them and baby them; check the bird netting, pull the weeds, talk to them.

I know it is God who is growing them. My gardening skills have proven quite inadequate. This is God’s gift to me – a second chance to have tomatoes.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 8:9

And it is only the failures, the thefts of fruit, that teach me how insufficient my own abilities are to produce beautiful fruit. How hard I work at it sometimes. Volunteer here, give there, write notes, send flowers, bring food – all good fruit; but if I am forcing these activities for appearance’s sake or other’s approval, these activities can be exhausting. I do not have the energy sufficient to continue in them, nor do they result in the garden I want to grow. I have to step back and let God grow these tomatoes.

It’s a hard lesson, learning to trust not in my own abilities and lean not on my own understanding. It feels rather unpatriotic. But God doesn’t want us trusting, relying on, or looking for help from anyone or anything but Himself. Not our government, not our IRA, not our allies, not even ourselves. These things are all good (or can be); and God provides structure and resources to enable us to further His kingdom, just as I provide structure and resources to enable my garden to grow.

But only God can grow a tomato. Only God is worthy of trust.

Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we will depend on the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7

And God is so gracious and patient with us, giving us second chances many times over. Seventy times seven, probably more.

Maybe that is why I do not remember the struggles of past gardens. Maybe I will not remember the failures in this one. Because there are beautiful blossoms on the plants, and little green tomatoes which fill me with hope and joy.

God has not finished with my garden yet. God has not finished with me yet. God has not finished with you yet.

Betsy

Come, follow me. Luke 18:22

Dealing with weeds is a never ending battle in the garden. Even the straw I covered my weed cloth with is growing grass. I can pull these weeds easily, because their roots are not in the ground, but they still divert water from the plants and, therefore, must go.

There is a time and place for grass, but it is not today in my garden.

Harder to pull are those weeds that are growing tucked up close to the plant, rooted in the soil with the plant. Sometimes, I can’t pull those weeds because doing so would damage the plant.

And what is a weed, really? By definition, a weed is just a plant growing where you don’t want it to grow. There’s nothing inherently bad about the plant; it is just growing where I don’t want it to grow. Some “weeds,” like dandelions, are quite beneficial.

So, while I sometimes think of weeds as “sin,” they are more analogous to distractions. This is the analogy Jesus made.

As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. Luke 8:14

There is nothing inherently bad about the cares and riches and pleasures of life, just as there is nothing inherently bad about any plant, until they choke off the production of spiritual fruit in my life. I would even argue that there is a time and place for the cares and riches and pleasures of life, but they need to be secondary to God.

A garden is a space set aside, a weed-free place dedicated to the growth of fruit. My personal devotional time is also a space set aside, a concern free time dedicated to growing in the likeness of Christ.

Because we need to be alert to the cares of the world, we need to tend to our business, and we are called to enjoy the world. But these things are not to take top priority in our lives.

Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:31-32

I am amazed, in this land of plenty, how much of my time and money I dedicate to what I eat and drink and what I wear. Those weeds! I confess I let them grow up in my garden and I let them grow up in my life. I wonder what it would look like if I truly subjugated my earthly desires to God’s righteous ones, if I had a have a weed-free garden?

I have a sense that I will never know, at least not this side of heaven. I just have to go out regularly and weed the garden. I have to examine my garden and my life regularly and look for weeds. What concerns for wealth or image or pleasure are encroaching on my love of God? Where am I putting my wishes above the needs of others? Where am I letting those weeds grow up, and why?

Am I just too lazy to pull them, too comfortable where I am? Is that inertia whispering in my ear that God won’t really care if I let the weeds grow? God cares. He wants to produce beautiful fruit in my life, fruit that I cannot produce on my own. All He asks is that I give Him the time and space to produce it.

So today, I will go out to the garden and pull some weeds. It’s a good day in the garden.

I hope you are enjoying my garden as well. I appreciate your sharing this space with me and hope you invite some friends to join us.

Betsy

He has given us the power to become Children of God. John 1:12

I have to admit this: I don’t like to wait. I don’t even like to shop. If I need something, I get it. No reason to waste time thinking about it forever.

But that doesn’t work in the garden.

In the garden, I have to wait. I have to wait for the plants to grow. I have to wait for the fruit to appear. I have to wait for the fruit to grow and ripen. No amount of wishing or impatience on my part changes that.

Every day, I walk in the garden. I check on the growth, make sure they are getting enough water, correct and support the growth as needed, watch and wait. And wait.

The tomatoes are there. They are large and green. And still green. I wonder if impatience led to fried green tomatoes.

Waiting. It’s possibly the hardest thing to do, especially for us in the here and now. If we were servants, we would have to wait for our master’s command. If we lived in the millennia before digital communications, we would have to wait for information to arrive and for communications to be returned. If we lived in a time of austerity, we would have to wait to until something was available that we could afford. As it is, we live in a world besot with self determination, going for it, instant communication, immediate gratification, easy credit and over abundance.

Maybe waiting is difficult for you as well.

Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14

If you read the Old Testament, waiting was never something that people found easy. Sarah couldn’t wait for Isaac’s birth, but had her servant conceive Ishmael; their descendants are still fighting. The Hebrews in the desert couldn’t wait for Moses to return, so they created a molten calf to lead them. They were impatient to get to the promised land. There are many instances of God asking His people to wait, and many instances of God’s people complaining about having to wait.

How long, O Lord? (Psalm 119:81, Psalm 13:1, Habakkuk 1:2, Psalm 71:12, Psalm 89:46)

But in a garden, you must wait; work while you wait for sure, but wait.

There is no point in complaining or fretting or getting anxious about how long it is taking the plant to mature. It just takes time. I just have to wait.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6.

What a lesson for life. Some things take time.

It takes time for those green tomatoes to turn red. Sometimes it takes time for me to forgive someone. It has taken a lot of time for me to not become angry when someone cuts in front of me. It may take time before God fulfills His promise to you. In the meantime, God calls us to have faith and wait.

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. James 5:7

So, be patient. Wait on the Lord. He is at work, even if we can’t see it. Have faith.

Fear not. Fret not. When the time is right, the plant will grow and bear fruit. When the time is right, the fruit will be ready.

And the good news is that, since patience is a fruit of the Spirit, your ability to wait for God to accomplish His plans is evidence of His fruit ripening in your life.

Take a deep breath, my friend, and enjoy your summer.

Betsy

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s work might be revealed in him.” John 9:3

I had my first tomato sandwich yesterday – delicious! There were several more tomatoes on the vine; I was so looking forward to picking, eating and sharing them.

This morning, they are all gone. Every one of them. Robbed. My guess is that whatever took them got under the bird netting and up and over the fence; probably a squirrel. Large enough to carry them off, small enough to not tear the cloth. I found a half eaten red tomato in the yard; I found no green ones.

Fortunately, I have planted indeterminate tomatoes, and I hope I will get new blossoms, new tomatoes. For now, the problem is preventing the predators from returning. I need to secure the netting and check my fence for openings. I need to search my garden for how the squirrel got through and correct the problem.

What I don’t need to do is get all upset about the lost tomatoes. It is in the squirrel’s nature to test any obstacles in its way. And the purpose of a test is to show us what we have mastered and where we need to improve. My netting is protecting the garden from the birds, but needs some work to withstand the squirrels.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless, indeed, you fail the test! 2 Corinthians 13:5

I had a dustup with a friend. It has exposed a gap in my spiritual netting. I am too busy justifying my actions to feel remorse, too offended to feel compassion, too self-righteous to humble myself. I have let the thief come in the night and rob me of the fruit of the Spirit. What I need to do is search myself and discover how I let that happen. Where are the gaps in the fence, the open spaces in the netting? How was I so easily robbed? I need to correct the problem.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

What I don’t need to do is dwell on the problem, stress over it, fixate on it. More important than the lost tomatoes is the realization that I need to fix my netting. More important than the dustup is the realization that I need to realign myself with God.

It is hard to let the past go. It is a challenge to not relive the mistakes we’ve made, the wounds we have inflicted, the wounds inflicted upon us. Dwelling on past hurts can easily consume our day. But the past does not need to determine who we are. Even the recent past. Whatever I did wrong yesterday, and I am sure there was plenty, does not mandate what my actions today will be.

Today is a new day.

I will water my garden and try again to protect it from robbers and thieves.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

God has given me this new day, and the promise of new blossoms. God has shown me I cannot manifest His fruit by my own abilities. I need God, and I need to be vigilant against my baser self or evil forces robbing me of the Spirit’s fruit.

Fortunately, God has also given me the ability to do just that.

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. John 1:12

So I will not let the tomato robber end my garden. I will not let the peace robber end my spiritual journey. These are setbacks and disappointments; these are tests I have failed. But God has given me faith, and hope, and love. Thank You Lord!

Go in peace, dear friend; go in the peace of God.

Betsy

The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. John 14:12

We’ve had record heat this year for June, weeks of temperatures in the upper 90’s. My pepper plants are loving it. I can’t remember the last time I have had peppers in June, although it was probably ten years ago when we had a similar early heat wave. Usually I have to wait until July.

One year, we had to wait until August. We had had a very cool summer. It was mid-July and our pepper plants still had no fruit at all. We were worried. Was something wrong?

Nick talked to the man at the Agricultural center, and he explained that pepper plants need to be stressed to bear fruit. Heat is the main stressor for most plants. Although stressing the plant artificially was an option, he suggested just waiting; it was bound to get hot at some point. And, of course, it did.

Because as unpredictable as the weather can be year to year, month to month or day to day, we know there will be periods of “unseasonable” temperatures when it is too hot or too cold. There will be excessive rainfall and periods of drought. There will be storms. We just don’t know when.

As humans, we strive to insulate ourselves from these unpleasant situations. We have built ourselves protective homes; heating and a/c to moderate the temperature; comfy beds and chairs; TVs, PCs, i10s – escape on demand. But my garden is not that protected. My plants are dealing with the weather head on.

And the peppers are thriving.

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

Maybe we only produce fruit when we are “stressed,” when we are facing trials. Of course, it takes much less heat to stress a tomato plant than it does to stress a pepper plant, but it still takes some.

And who knows if my pepper plants are really “loving” this heat? They may not enjoy the stressful situation that encourages their fruit production. They may even resent being put in such a situation. But their fruit is a beautiful thing.

… knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us. Romans 5:3-5

Do I love being in the situations that make me bear fruit? Can I show patience if I am never frustrated? Am I showing love and kindness if I only spend time with people I like? Will I bear the fruit of gentleness if nothing angers me?

Maybe we, like the plants, need some stress, need the heat of the summer to bear our fruit.

Maybe that heat reveals if we are bearing the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit of our own selfish desires.

How am I reacting to the stress, to the heat? Because this has already been a very hot summer. This has already been a very stressful summer. And not just for my garden.

Just turn on the news for 15 minutes.

Am I bearing fruit? Am I bearing the Spirit’s fruit? Are you?

As a gardener, I look forward to the heat of the summer. The heat makes the plants produce the fruit I want.

I admit I rarely look forward to the heat and stress in my life. I rarely “consider it joy.” And yet, if it makes me produce that fruit, isn’t it a good thing?

And don’t forget that in order to survive and thrive in high heat, plants need even more water; and we need even more prayer.

Perhaps I will learn to welcome the situations which cause me to bear fruit, as I welcome the heat of summer.

My prayer is that you and I will bear much holy fruit this summer. Thank you for sharing your time with me.

Betsy

For in fact, the kingdom of God is among you. Luke 17:21

My tomatoes are ripening, it makes me so happy! The little green tomatoes have fattened and became light and lighter. Now they are turning pink. They stand out against all the green leaves, drawing my eyes to their difference.

But I am not the only one who has noticed this ripening fruit. The birds have noticed as well. They love to come and peck the tomatoes as soon as any rose hint appears. Are they drinking the juice? Attracting bugs for a more protein rich meal? Confusing it with a flower? Who knows? What I do know is they can destroy my tomatoes.

So every summer I go through the ridiculously laborious task if putting up bird netting. After several summers of losing our tomatoes to the birds, Nick erected a metal pole frame over which we could lay the netting. This at least keeps the plants from growing through the netting. The netting is almost invisible and catches on everything, even grass. Getting the netting unfolded, unrolled, and over the metal poles, which are taller than me, tests my patience.

And it’s not something I can do by myself.

But if this extra effort helps protect a bountiful harvest of fruit, then it is definitely worth the time and frustration.

Am I willing to exert that effort to protect my spiritual fruit from predators who aim to destroy it?

Because just as red tomatoes stand out against green leaves, your spiritual fruit will stand out against the background of worldly living. When you are loving when you have every “right” to be angry, when you are gentle when many would use force, when you are peaceful in a time of unrest, others will notice. Some will admire you and rejoice, but others will take advantage of you, apply more pressure, maybe even make you a target.

For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but … against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly place. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to … stand firm. Ephesians 6:12-13

To make sure that my fruit continues to ripen unscarred and protected from those who would destroy it, I need to shield it with bird netting. I need to erect a barrier between my fruit, the evidence of the Holy Spirit in my life, and the world around me, a barrier that is almost invisible but keeps the fruit intact.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

Like putting up bird netting, renewing our minds is not a simple task. It can be time-consuming and frustrating. It catches on our emotions and knee-jerk reactions. We, I, often fall far short of what is good or acceptable, much less perfect.

But don’t give up. Keep at the task, because that layer of protection is the only way the fruit can ripen without being destroyed.

Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Hebrews 12:11

And it’s not something I can do by myself.

I need my church. I need my Christian friends. I need the Holy Spirit – after all, it’s His fruit that’s growing!

Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. Ephesians 6:18

The tomatoes are turning red, displaying themselves to the world. It is a time of joy, but also a time when they need additional protection from that which would steal and destroy them. Put in the effort, my friend, and get that bird netting in place.

Thank you for reading this and sharing it with your friends. The world needs to see the fruit of the Spirit right now. I pray it is growing in your life, ripening for all to see.

Betsy

Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Cucumbers, like all their squash cousins, are rambunctious, exuberant, enthusiastic plants. The plants will grow to fill whatever space you have provided and then grow some more. Fences are merely obstacles easily overcome.

In our first garden, we planted winter squash because the plants were available. We had no fence on our terraced garden, so the squash grew into our yard, through the fence and into the neighbor’s yard. We ate squash until we were sick of it.

That first year, we planted the cucumbers next to the tomatoes. The cucumbers grew into the tomatoes and hung their fruit on the cages right beside the tomatoes.

Now, I plant the cucumbers alone, away from any other vegetable, and fence them in on all sides.

But a fence is not enough. When I walk my garden every day, I have to put the cucumbers vines back inside the fence. They are not very fragile, so I can manhandle them more than I can the tomatoes. I need to be just as enthusiastic as they are.

I love their enthusiasm. I can relate. I often feel like I am on the verge of being out of control, like I am testing the boundaries and going outside the fence. I am grateful that God sends His Spirit to corral my exuberance.

When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. John 16:12

My ministers, my Christian friends, the Bible – all help me stay inside the fence, help me stay in right relationship, help my wandering thoughts to return to God and Jesus.

All scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16

And you know what? This rambunctious, exuberant, enthusiastic attitude is exactly what makes cucumbers and their squash cousins such prolific producers of fruit. They have no fear, no timidity, no apparent caution. They just keep growing until a stronger hand moves them back into the fence.

I think God likes enthusiasm.

Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Romans 12:11

In John’s Revelation, only the church of Laodicea receives no praise.

So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3:16

So grow with abandonment dear cucumbers! I will corral and correct your growth, just as God corrals and corrects mine. I hope that my enthusiasm makes God smile as much as the cucumber’s enthusiasm makes me smile.

I pray I can be as enthusiastic about serving the Lord, about growing in my faith, about becoming all that God has planned for me to be, as my cucumbers are.

But I also admire those hardy pepper plants. They grow up straight and strong and bear their fruit with pride. Growing between the tomatoes and cucumbers, I check on them every day, but rarely do they need anything from me except water. I’d like to think I could be like them, not needing correction and containment or even tender training, but God creates each plant differently and each person differently.

So whether you relate to the enthusiastic cucumber, the prized tomato, or the independent pepper, or even the fragile sugar snap, know that God values you. Praise God that He grows all kinds of plants in His garden. Praise God that He cares for each plant in the manner best suited to its particular needs. Please know that He values, grows, and cares for each of you as well.

God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. Genesis 1:29

Keep growing, my friend!

Betsy

In Him all things were created. John 1:3

My tomatoes look so good! After the disaster of the sugar snaps, these healthy plants are a source of joy.

But I still need to tend to them daily. Not only do they need water, but they need training.

Tomato stems are not strong enough to bear their own weight, much less the weight of their fruit. As the branches grow, I must continually pull them inside the tomato cages or they will lie on the ground, spoiling the fruit. I gently lift the growing branches and rest them on the nearest rib of the cage. Gently, gently, because the new branches are fragile.

If I allow the branch to get too big before training them to the cage, I will have to bend the branch and risk breaking it. So I watch for fresh growth and support the branches with the cage as soon as possible.

The importance of training the tomatoes to the cages is something we learned from experience. Many plants, like the pepper plants, can bear the weight of their own fruit, but tomato plants cannot. The weight of the tomato will break the branch. Only when the branch is supported by the cage, can it bear the weight of the ripe tomato.

Do I need to be trained to accept support? I’m not a fan of needing help. It makes me feel old and weak. But these tomatoes are healthy and growing. It’s not that the plant is weak, but that the fruit is massive in comparison. A pear has an entire tree to support it. A similar sized tomato has only this tiny plant.

Perhaps, if my fruit is large compared to myself, I need support for it.

Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amelek prevailed. But Moses’ arms grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and the other on the other side, so his hands were steady. Exodus 17:11-12

I find the fruit of the Spirit so appealing – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, generosity and self-control. So Melanie from Gone with the Wind. So counter to my Scarlett personality. I need support; I need to be trained to bear this fruit successfully. I am grateful to my friends who offer that support and gently correct me. I am thankful when they let me lean on them. Hopefully, I will can do the same for them or someone else someday. That is what the Christian community is all about – support.

Therefore encourage one another, and build up each other, as indeed you are doing… And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. I Thessalonians 5:11,14

Already there are little yellow flowers and tiny green tomatoes in my garden. I know it will be weeks, perhaps even months, before I can harvest any. But the promise is there. And the reminder to train the plant to the support cage before the fruit becomes heavy. A reminder to allow myself to be supported; to support others, and to encourage others to accept support. With support, the plant can produce abundant fruit. With support, that fruit is visible and available to the world.

In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Thank you for supporting me as I garden, and as I write about gardening. Thank you to the many of you who have helped me grow as a Christian and learn to live as a widow. I thank our Lord for the gift of you.

Betsy

Let me praise God before the assembly. Psalm 22:22

I have sugar snaps! All three of them were delicious!

I heard an actor speak once about the false gods Americans embrace – success, wealth and beauty. The importance of these is so interwoven into our culture that we hardly recognize it. Many of us weave these into our religion as well, somehow believing that living faithfully will make us successful, wealthy, and beautiful. But is this the example Jesus gave us? Without His resurrection, would any of us describe Jesus as successful, wealthy, or beautiful? Certainly not in the the world’s view.

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father?” Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? John 24:9-10

Of course, the tricky part of this is “success” because the definition is flexible. Was Jesus a success because many people came out to listen to Him? 10,000 likes on Facebook? Success used to be linked with wealth, but we could also link it with power or influence. In today’s culture, a company needs to be profitable, generous and socially conscious to be “successful,” although I think the profitable bit is still very key.

Was my sugar snap garden successful? I got three peas. Is that success? No, it is not. I have been round and round about what went wrong, what I could do better, and what I will try next year. Because even if I am not “successful,” I believe God wants me to give it my best effort.

Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord. Colossians 3:23

But for now, the spring garden is a bust. It is time to pull up the cages, take down the fence and let the mowers cut the weeds back. This year’s sugar snaps were a failure. If I were in a more unhealthy place, I might feel like I was a failure as well. There have certainly been times when my failure at a task has led me to feel like a failure as a person. But today, it just feels like another lesson from the garden. Perhaps being able to write about it has helped.

Perhaps I am redefining “success” and “failure.” Perhaps “success” has very little to do with production or profit or popularity. Perhaps it has nothing to do with wealth or beauty.

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me. Matthew 19:21

I am grateful for my three sugar snaps. I ate them with joy and thanksgiving. They were a gift from God. And they came, as they do every year, around Pentecost.

Pentecost, 50 days after Passover/Easter, marks the end of the Festival of Weeks and the celebration of First Fruits. One of the oldest Jewish festivals, Moses made it a mandatory celebration in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. By Jesus’s time, the Jewish people celebrated Pentecost as the day God gave His law to His people. It was as the people were celebrating the gift of the law that God gave the gift of His Spirit to His people.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place…. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:1-4

And isn’t it always a “success” when God gives us a gift? When God gives us His law, so we know what pleases and angers Him? When God gives us His Spirit to make us new creations? When God gives me three delicious sugar snaps to enjoy?

Thank You, Lord. What wonderful fruit You have created. What a blessing You have given to me. Thank You.

Betsy

Thank you for reading along and joining me on this journey. Even if you don’t have a garden, God is growing something in your life. Trust Him and enjoy the fruit.

The earth is full of His majesty. Isaiah 6:3