Today is a Wednesday. That means I get the day to myself. I try to make a habit of using it to spend some extra time with God, as well as get some much needed exercise. Today after my regular devotions, I invited God to come with me on a snowshoeing hike. He obviously didn't need snowshoes :-).
The sun was shining and the temperature a balmy 4 degrees. Warm enough to go coatless (for a Canadian who has just gone through a -20 winter), cold enough for the snow to stay. I tramped along the creek, around the field to the fencerow, and along the drifts of snow that the wind had whipped up. It was quiet, and lovely. Believe me - "lovely" is not a word I often use about winter.
I stopped on top of a big snow drift, and took the time to be still and look around. I was surrounded by fields which were mostly covered with snow, but I could see farmhouses and barns as well as some ploughed earth where the snow was not as deep. It made me think of the job that God gave to people - to be masters over the earth. I don't really know what that all entails. I do know that there are a lot of very valid arguments that we've been making a mess of this job. But I also know that God created the world for us to be busy with. He made something beautiful, and then he made people on it to allow them to create more beauty. No, we don't always do a good job of that, and we often make a mess, but we also often make beauty. Of course it wouldn't be beautiful if we farmed every square inch of the land and didn't leave space for the animals to flourish, and caused the land to start eroding. But it is beautiful when we farm some of it, even quite a lot of it. That's part of our job as gardeners. We work with God to create beauty.
Of course, being me, my thoughts didn't just restfully stay there. Part of the reason why I so desperately need my forced moments of quiet on Wednesdays is because my brain often works overtime. As I thought of the beauty of God's world and our task in it, it struck me that being a parent is a lot like being a farmer or gardener. We have huge influence on the product that comes from the field or the child. If I plant a seed of corn, that's what will come up. If I plant carrots, that's what will come up. Not a lot of surprises there (well, unless you mix up your baby sprouts and plant watermelons to climb up your mail box and morning glories in careful mounds in your garden .... Oops :-)). We have to be careful what we plant, how we plant them, how we tend them - it's a huge responsibility! But we can't control it all. A farmer can't determine the weather conditions that her crops will grow in. It's up to God to make sure it rains, and shines, in turn. We can use lots of preventative measures to keep the bunnies, birds, and bad bugs out of our gardens, but they always seem to find their way back in. It's up to God to protect and strengthen the growing plants. And you know what - God sets times of fallow too. Times when he doesn't want things to grow. He created seasons for a reason, you know! I don't know much about farming, but God does have really good reasons for creating a growing season in Canada as well as a season where nothing can grow. That's OK. Beautiful even. And guess what - he often even sends down a beautiful and comforting blanket for the gardens and the fields during this time.
As my husband and I raise our children, it's so important for us to remember that we're raising them with God. Yes, he's made us "masters" of our family, but he doesn't just throw the job at us and then sits back to wait and see what we make of it. He's there with us every step of the way, pouring down rain and sunshine as it's needed. But also allowing drought once in a while, or allowing pests to get in to the garden. Strengthening the children - providing learning opportunities and teaching us how to guide them in making the most of these lessons. And he also can leave extended times of fallow every now and then. Ones that can sometimes drag on and on like a Canadian winter. When one of our children is going through a hard time he is allowing that, and he's saying "You may not know why or how, but this is for your benefit! Just trust me." And he lays down his blanket on that child and says to us "Leave him with me - he's safe with me! Enjoy this time too for what it's worth. No - you may not see the fruits of your work right now, but there's other beauty in this time as well, like a snowshoe hike along the snowdrifts."
