Disconnect

In my heart, I am a gardener.
In reality, I am not.
I can take care of my hanging baskets and help them to thrive.
I know how to keep my mulch beds neat by pulling the weeds frequently.

It was when I was watering my hanging baskets on my side porch that it came to me.
I had my phone with me as I was on the porch.
I took a picture of the area about which I was thinking.
I can see the area from my porch swing or my bistro table.

This area has two large ash trees, which need to come down.
They have been infested with the same ash bore that is infecting many trees on our street.
This area is next to the old stone farm wall that runs along the side of our property.
It is the perfect place to have a cottage garden.

A cottage garden.
A garden with cat mint plants, attracting butterflies from far and wide.
A garden that is meticulously planned, yet has a wild look about it.
The garden is in my mind’s eye; I know exactly how I want it to look.

However, there is a disconnect.
A disconnect between the picture in my mind’s eye and the implementation.
A disconnect between what I want the cottage garden to look like and what I can actually do.
In my mind, I am a gardener; in reality, I am not.

I have looked at pictures of cottage gardens and even saved some on my phone.
I know the look of the plants I would like to have there.
I don’t know any of their names.
I would never be able go to a nursery and ask for plants I see in my head.

I’m still dreaming of my cottage garden.
With God anything is possible.
God has given me the ability to picture things in my mind and describe them.
Perhaps, He will give me the gift of a green thumb as well.

I was the girl who poked her finger in the dirt inside the Styrofoam cup.
I just wanted to see if something was growing.
The small Lima bean that was wrapped in a wet paper towel, just had to sprout something.
I had to be there when it happened.

I remember when my friend gave me lots of day lily bulbs.
I had no idea what I was doing.
I knew I had to make a little hole and put the bulb inside.
I waited and wondered.

I remember the day I saw the first green shoot.
Then the second, and the third shoot appeared.
Finally, the little area on the other side of my porch was ablaze with color.
For years, the day lilies gave me so much joy.

The disconnect vanished.
I had beautiful orange day lilies covering the little area near my porch.
The day lilies are no longer there all these years later.
I fondly remember how their flourishing made me feel.

When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian,  he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land.  I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” (Judges 6:7-16)

There was a disconnect.
The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and called him a mighty warrior.
At the time the angel of the Lord spoke those words, Gideon was shaking in his boots.
Gideon knew his clan was the weakest and he was the least in his family.

There is never a disconnect with God.
God sees us as we actually are.
God created us; He should know.
Yet, we go by what we see and what we feel instead of seeing ourselves the way God sees us.

In God’s eyes, Gideon was a mighty warrior.
Perhaps in God’s eyes, I am a gardener.
There is no disconnect with God.
He knows us best and sees the one He created, without sin.

Can we begin to see each other the way God sees each of us?
We cannot do that in our own strength.
We need His help.
Open our eyes, Father, so we can see others as You see them with no disconnect.