Slugs, Aphids and Weeds…Oh My!

I’m a lot like my mother. She believed fruit and veggies were intended to be purchased at the market, frozen or in cans. I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs thinking gardening was something that died out with the pioneers.

 Then I moved to Amish Country.

I learned it was unthinkable not to have a vegetable garden. Over the years I’ve grown to love gardening (for about a month). I enjoy surface digging, with gloved hands, a pink handled spade and plants that look half grown immediately. However, after numerous failed attempts to grow anything remotely eatable I realized a bumper crop was all about preparing the soil.

This is where the husband comes in handy. He unleashes the big guns, his rotary tilling beast. He and the monster begin by breaking up the hard ground and removing rocks, roots, and debris. I watch (from inside the house) as he spreads the compost. Then he tills again to make sure everything is all mixed together and the soil is rich with the proper ph. When the preparation is finished we plant the seeds.

For the first month or so I am diligent about watering and weed control. My plants look like soldiers in perfect formation. Then it happens. Mutiny! My perfect rows seem to join forces with a multitude of rebel weeds! Under the sweltering sun I begin the process of carefully separating the fragile plants from the thistle.

It’s amazing how weeds can grow anywhere! They come up through cracks in the cement, they tangle around trees, and they raise their thorny heads in dry or wet soil. These little demons will propagate if it rains or shines. Not so with good seed.

If you want to yield a harvest after your investment of time and effort, you have to prepare the ground and be vigilant to protect it from predators. In the parable of the sower Jesus warns us about infertile hearts. He illustrates the point by showing us four types of soil.

Jesus sows the seed, like your pastor who teaches the word each Sunday morning. The seed scatters through the congregation. Some will land in hard hearts where the hearer is not really interested in what God has to say. This person has already shut out the truth and prefers the world’s ideas on how to live a full life. Before long the enemy of our souls makes sure they can’t understand or retain what they hear.

Some seed penetrates hearts that are rocky. These are surface diggers clearing just enough dirt to cover the seed. Rocks represent falling into temptation and unconfused sin. This becomes a dry bed that produces shallow, legalistic or lukewarm Christians. Because these plants get little spiritual moisture fruit bearing dies away.

If your heart is thorny you accept the seed, and get off to a good start, by the cares of the world become so distracting you backslide. The world’s treasures are more important than the things of God. Life’s predators, (worries, riches and lusts) eat the fruit before it has a chance to mature.

The good soil is the prepared heart. There is some effort involved when you become a disciple of Jesus. You need to care for the seed that is sown within you. We can’t leave church on Sunday and forget what was sown by Tuesday. Each day we need to weed out sin and clear the rocks and thistle that litter our lives. If we are lax in our effort we will be overrun with aphids, slugs, and predators that will rob us of a good harvest.

I remember struggling through all three imperfect loams. I went through seasons of disinterest, hanging onto sin, and backsliding far from my church family. Thankfully, someone told me I needed to do more than scratch the surface; I needed to get serious about making Jesus the Lord of my life. The good news is we don’t have to continue growing weeds and rocks in dry unproductive soil. Once I made that decision the Holy Spirit began tilling.



Good soil is a heart yielded to God. If we want a massive harvest and abundant lives we need to patiently and carefully work toward developing the fruit of the spirit in our lives. The parable of the sower asks us all a question. What type of soil are you growing in?

Parable of the Sower

Matthew 13:1-23

Mark 4:1-20

Luke 8:1-15

Engine Trouble

Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.

Summer is on the horizon and I have been exercising and dieting for months.  Let’s face it.  If you are breathing and over thirty, you’re working out.  I got on the scale expecting to see unbelievable progress.  After all, I had cut back calories, upped my cardio, and changed my routine.  I even secretly tried Zumba!

I had been waiting, patiently, for the little needle to drop for days.  Just a pound would have made my day.  The dang thing would not budge.  Instead of keeping my emotions in check, I flipped out and ate everything in sight.  I knew I was in trouble when I realized I was eating Doritos with whipped cream.

The husband has really bad timing.  Just as I was forcing the hundredth salty, sweet temptation into my mouth, he walked into the kitchen.  “Honey, what’s wrong?  You’re going to ruin all you’re hard work.”

I felt my lips curl into a snarl.  I felt rabid!  I faced him with beady red eyes.  “Get Out!”  I growled.  Fortunately, he’s smart.  He turned and left the scene in a flash.  That instant brought me back to my senses.  I put the tasty (yuck) delicacies away and waited for my emotional motor to slow down.

Once I regained control, I realized I needed a tune up.  For a few weeks, my internal trouble light was flashing, “Check engine!”  I ignored it.  Although my performance was low, and it took a lot more effort for me to get things done, I deliberately shunned the warning.  It’s funny how the little things can bring our lives to a screeching stop.

I was doing all the right things.  My prayer time was on track. My personal life was great.  The family was intact.  I should have been getting enough fuel and fluids to make my engine purr.  The funny thing was I felt clueless as to why my think tank was not running smoothly.  I had to take myself to the “Master Mechanic” and wait for the answer to my problem.

Sometimes, I need something close to shock therapy to hear the truth.  My eating tantrum represented one more thing I had to wait to see change. The truth was I had lots of unanswered prayer floating around and nothing was happening.  I let my mind get so caught up in what I wanted, when I wanted it, and how I wanted it, I lost focus on why I wanted it.

The why part of dieting and exercise was obvious, too much junk in the trunk! My lack of speed had a lot to do with trying to accelerate on a road loaded with stop signs.  No matter what I tried, the only lane open was slow and steady. It was like The Fast and the Furious meets Herbie.  

When I let God use His instrument of truth to check my internal code, I saw the problem.  I had been trying in subtle ways to manipulate God to speed things up. His clock does not operate on FIOS.  Inside, I was impatient, frustrated, angry, and fearful. I bought into the lie that the results I want to experience in life should be instant and easy.  I was stripping my gears and getting nowhere.

Jesus spent thirty years waiting to begin a three-year ministry.  We don’t know much about that time except that during the waiting process… “He increased in strength, wisdom, and favor with God and man.”  (Luke 2:52)

We need to idle our engines when the answers we seek are a long time coming.  Waiting is really a time of transition.  God tells us to be patient because something important is at stake. He knows our beginning and our end.  We need to trust His timing and seek His will in each situation we face in life.

How many parents are still waiting after years of prayer to see their lost child return to Christ?  You need to know you are not alone.  Many faithful prayer warriors are waiting for jobs, or reconciliation in a broken relationship. He is there to help you through.  Some of God’s faithful are waiting for healing.  Jesus will dry your eyes and calm the storm.  Are you lost and confused?  He will light the way.   We are all waiting for something.  He is standing with us!

Let’s trust God and learn from Jesus to wait faithfully, obediently and patiently.  God promises..  “As I wait for the Lord I will renew my strength and power; I shall mount up on wings like an eagle; I shall run and not be weary, I shall walk and not faint or become tired.   –Isaiah 40:31