Friendship...A Lovely Garden

God has quite often used the garden to speak to me of deeper truths, and because I think in pictures, I believe that this particular picture that God has blessed me with, has deepened my understanding of friendship through the years.

The friendships in our lives have the potential of creating a lovely fragrant garden...however, there are certain responsibilities that every gardener must undertake in order to ensure that her garden flourishes.

The foundation of any thriving garden is good soil. It is so vital that we allow God to prepare our hearts for those plantings that He Himself brings into our lives - this preparation is ongoing, it is the process of getting to know God and ourselves, well. (In the comment section at the end of this posting, I will share one of the things that I have personally learned in this "good soil" preparation process...I am hoping that you will also share yours as well so that we can all share the fragrance of wisdom from one another!) Once this foundation of good soil has been laid, plenty of water and sunshine will be required, along with the knowledge of what kind of plants will do well, and where.

The regular maintenance of pruning, dead-heading, weeding and fertilizing will require personal time, energy, money and commitment; yet, one thing will continue to hold centre court, and that will be your enjoyment of your garden, and the sharing of it with others. It will become a continual source of beauty and refreshment to you, full of surprises and a constant source of inspiration.

The garden of our friendships are composed of many different kinds of flowers - there are perennials - these are the friends that are "tried and true", they remain a constant fixture in our gardens year after year. They faithfully bloom at exactly the right time, giving beauty to the overall garden of our lives.

There are annuals - these are the friendly plantings that are a part of our gardens for only a season. They will come and give a burst of colour to shaded areas of the garden, they will highlight walkways and tend to bring out the very best of our gardens, providing exactly what is needed for a particular season of time.

There are weeds - these are the undesired, harmful plants. They are invasive and have the unpleasant ability of sinking their roots in deep, crowding out and choking out the life of the other plants in our gardens. Weeds tend to be deceptive in their infancy, looking like a younger perennial or annual. However, as they grow they show themselves for what they are and are easily spotted.

I believe that gardens are important to God - after all, didn't He choose to place the first man and woman in a garden? Spiritual life died in a garden, God Himself walked in that Garden in the cool of the day, Jesus was buried in a tomb in a garden, and was resurrected in a garden overcoming the spiritual death that was once lost there, and He now shares the abundance of that Life with those who will believe.

As our gardens of friendship flourish and grow, there will be the happy task of sharing our abundance with others...which only enlarges the beauty of our overall garden, which I believe, brings great pleasure to God, Who after all is the Vinedresser (John 15:1).

Yes, God quite often uses the garden to speak to me of deeper truths, and I thank Him for the blessing of each lovely flower and planting that He has placed in my particular life's garden.