Every garden will be attacked

Last week we talked about “non-negotiables.” We explored how the natural flow of the seasons and the cycles of nature parallel much of life and can teach us a great deal. As we think of the future and envision the “harvest” that we would like to reap, we must extrapolate what “seeds” we need to plant in order to yield the harvest we desire.

As these metaphorical gardens start to take shape in our lives there is a reality we must face: Every garden that is planted will come under attack. Birds, rabbits, deer, water, sun, frost, weeds, fertile soil and insects all come into play. In The Parable of the Sower, Jesus tells us of a farmer that went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

This beautifully sets the stage for us to gain awareness on our journey and prepare us to defend the gardens we have worked so hard to create. Awareness, knowing what can and or will happen, is the key to recognizing the metaphorical attackers and being prepared to handle them. To put this in perspective, I will share a real-life personal experience…

One of my personal “gardens” is “to be a great friend”, so I set a goal of investing in my friends. I didn’t know what that looked like or exactly how to do it. One way I decided to do it this past year was to issue a challenge just before Christmas. The challenge was simple, to do 50 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, and to compliment your wife or do something you wouldn’t normally do (or know you should do) for her everyday and after daily completion, text me something you are grateful for. I issued this challenge to 10 friends. 7 accepted (the birds got the others). All 7 of the friends who accepted took on the challenge and started to share insights with me that set me on fire. This let me know that these 7 were serious and interested in investing in themselves and their spouses/lives. With those 7, I dove a little deeper and issued a long-term challenge, a one year commitment. I vowed to provide weekly motivation and/or reminders to stay the course on the challenge throughout the year. Of the 7, I know a few were very excited and motivated but haven’t even started (they sprouted quickly on rocky soil and were burnt by the sun). I know several are thriving with it and getting incredible results. As the year goes on some of the few may take up issue with the challenge or have setbacks. They may quit or simply whither and regenerate (get choked by thorns). Some will grow wildly and have a change within themselves or with their spouses or peers and be changed forever (a crop returning one hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sewn).

The fact of the matter is, I knew going in I wouldn’t get a 100 percent return on each the seeds that I planted come harvest time. I am still close friends with the few that didn’t even accept the first challenge. I count them as brothers and would do anything in my power to help any one of them. If I didn’t hold them close to the vest, I wouldn’t have thought of them to issue the challenge in the first place. Knowing that I can never get 100 percent return does not stop me from trying, it doesn’t stop me from planting. In fact, it strengthens me. It gives me conviction in focusing on my harvest. It helps me not take it personally when this garden is “attacked” or guys fall off.

I have had similar experiences when I started setting intentional goals/planting seeds to better my relationship with my wife in my personal “To be a great husband” garden. I had a goal set to compliment her daily. I swore she didn’t hear, recognize or care about half of my early attempts (the birds stole those compliments). I implemented weekly date lunches and the 1st and 3rd dates we got in considerable fights because we didn’t know how to be alone anymore or date each other (we sprouted quickly on rocky soil and got burnt by the sun). After a year of continued compliments and dates, we were more in love with each other than when we had met years earlier and were actually dating (some seeds didn’t produce but the ones that did yielded a crop that returned one hundred times what I had sewn).

Your personal gardens are

• yourself

• your relationship with your wife

• your relationship with your children

• your relationship with your friends

• your spiritual contribution/connection

• your lifestyle/adventures

• financials

As you start to discover these gardens and focus on where you need to do the most tending, my hope is that you remember the parable of the seed sower. No matter how intentional you are, you will not get a 100 percent return from all your seeds but some seeds will return one hundred times over what you planted.

Remember a vote is not won with 100 percent of the vote, just the majority.

Your harvest will not be ruined by the birds, the rocky ground or any other invader or attacker. You simply have to be aware of these attackers. Embrace them as they happen and tend/react to them as necessary to protect your garden and overall harvest. It will be worth it come harvest time, I can promise you that!