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Ep. 70. Do you ever feel that you are working and working, but not seeing results? In the meantime, it seems that everything your neighbor touches turns to gold. So why bother? Why keep trying?
Listen today to learn three important truths about work and results. The goal for this podcast is to help you feel satisfied with your efforts and motivated to keep sowing seeds. Thanks for tuning in.
Planting Seeds: The Truth about Work and Results
I. Not Everything You Plant Will Grow
I have planted so many things that haven’t grown.
In Arizona, our yard was desert landscaped which means a lot of rocks, but I wanted to grow something. Figuring that zucchini will grow anywhere, in any climate and any type of soils, I cleared away a patch of rocks, worked the soil, and planted zucchini. It never really produced. Later, I learned that homes built in Arizona are treated with a termite barrier, and if you dig around the house’ foundation, you violate the barrier. Oops. I hope the people living there now don’t have termite issues.
Every year since moving to Utah, I have attempted to grow peas. When I pull out the pea seeds, my husband asks why I bother planting peas when I can buy a 5 pound bag already shelled from Costco for $5 (and 5 lbs is more than I’ve ever successfully produced from my garden). It’s a legitimate question. For me there are a lot of reasons. For one, peas do well in cooler temperatures and so they’re some of the first vegetables you can plant in the season. By March I am done with winter and hankering to get out a shovel, turn some dirt and get something planted in the earth. And there is something magical about picking a pod off of a plant and not knowing how many peas will be inside when you crack it open. Maybe there will be two but maybe, this pod will have 8 or 9 or 10 peas. My tongue and tummy feel so bounteous when I slide my teeth down the open pod, delivering those fresh, sweet, green garden buttons to my mouth. But more than that, there is something powerful about activating the law of harvest in my life.
But it can be so frustrating when I’ve tilled and toiled and watered and weeded and there are only a few curly sprigs of growth to show for my labors, particularly when I look over the fence into the neighbor’s yard and see that their crops are thriving.
It can be easy to think that people have a green thumb and everything they touch shoots up like Jack’s beanstalk. But this isn’t true.
Last year, my cub scouts came over and helped me plant two rows of carrot seed. We planned to eat healthy, sweet, crunchy carrot sticks for den meetings in August. But not ONE carrot grew!
It can be easy to think that people have a green thumb and everything they touch shoots up like Jack’s beanstalk. But this isn’t true. Gardening is a gamble. Not everything you plant will grow. Not everything you cultivate will result in a bumper crop.
The Story of The White House Garden
from the book Becoming by Michelle Obama
II. The Harvest Takes Time
Story of Katherine Heigel becoming an actress.
III. The Glory Days of the Harvest are Brief
The best example that ties all three principles together is my peach tree. Some years, my peach tree yields bushels and bushels of sweet, delicious fruit. Other years, due to late frost or insects, we have no peaches. But even during a year of bumper crop, all those peaches are ready at the same time. We only have a period of two to three weeks to eat all those peaches fresh before they are gone. I always wish I could change this and spread the harvest out so we could eat fresh peaches all summer, but this is the way of the harvest. And as soon as the peaches are gone, it’s time to fertilize the tree, mulch the soil, and begin preparing for the next harvest. We work 11 months to care for the tree for 1 month of fruit. Sounds about right.
Conclusion
When I get frustrated and ready to give up, I’ve learned my frustration is usually because I’m focussing too much on results, especially if I’m comparing my results to the results of others. What works best is for me to focus on my efforts and leave the results to God. There are so many factors outside of my control, but I can control my effort. I know that if I keep sowing, keep working, eventually something will grow.