Author's notes:In addition to the love of growing vegetables, a big part of my call to work in the soil relates to having a sense of purpose, a sense of doing something that is appreciated by others, and increasingly a sense of community. Originally I didn't feel that my gardening was about community. But over the years CSA members have made many comments about how the veggies (and the farmer) are a link to their community and to each other. As I pay…
Although I've done it for many years now, seeing the first seeds push through the soil each spring fills me with amazement, joy, and hope. It is a reminder to me of God's love of life and the tiny miracles that take place every day.
“Look, I am doing something new, now it emerges; can you not see it?” Isaiah 43:19 (NJB)Fair warning, this is less a devotion and more a story of faith in action. I was asked by Lutherans Restoring Creation to sit on a panel about community gardens so I have been reflecting on the lifespan of Trinity Community Gardens Inc (TCGI). TCGI was founded in the spring of 2008 by three master gardeners (Paulette Blaseg from St. Paul’s Catholic Church and Dale and Sheila…
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-9I was pulling weeds in our garden and preparing space to…
Living in Idaho, we can relate to Jesus’ agricultural parables - the sower and the seeds, the workers in the vineyard, the wheat and the weeds. The farming and gardening process holds lessons we can apply to other kingdom ministries. For example, I recently helped conduct interviews with the ministry partners of Trinity Lutheran, Nampa. We asked how the pandemic had impacted those ministries. Please watch this short interview with Paulette Blaseg and Sheila Anderson of Trinity Community Garden, Inc. https://youtu.be/FURdPYGpSQM The words…
https://youtu.be/T0wWZ6tgGKQ MATTHEW 10:40-42 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it— that doesn’t mean the one who figures out the parable, because not even the disciples could do that; Jesus had to take them aside and explain everything, pass them the answers in the class or they’d have never passed the course. No, the one who hears the word and understands it is not the one with the brains to figure God…
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