peas

When I poured my first cup of coffee one morning last week I had a tingle, really a pain, in my thumb. I felt like I had been in a fierce thumb war and won the championship after several rounds. Once the cup of caffeine set in and recharged my brain, I remembered that my thumb was more likely sore from my new hobby, shelling peas, than from any recent thumb war. I call it a hobby because I enjoy it. Go figure, I married a man from Dallas who has managed to be more country than I ever dreamed and grow an amazing garden. He grows, waters, and I tend to it when I am home in the summer. We are a pretty good team. One day last week in particular, the kids and I spent some time in the pea patch and also in the corn. The corn is so tall in one area that I thought I was in a maze I had seen in a Texas Highways magazine. I spent many a hour in a pea patch ten times I know the size of mine when I was a kid with my Great-Grandmother. She was a master gardener before the term even existed. I did not like it then, but many years later, the physical labor and quietness of outdoor work sure has grown on me. The first batch of cream peas we picked were not quite ready. We got excited snapped them from their vine a few days too soon! One of my kiddos asked me after the day we brought them in and realized they were not fully developed it they would get bigger and better. My answer was well….no. I saved that thought for a teachable moment the next time we were out in the garden. Covered in sweat, dirt, and bug spray because mosquitos did not seem to get the message that they are only supposed to bite at night this year, I bent down to show Blaise and Bosque how we were letting the peas stay connected to the vine a little bit longer. They started avoiding the smaller ones and went for the “Big Daddy Peas.” I started my verse in John 15:5 and they finished it for me about staying connected to the vine. Peas just take time. Gardening takes time! I guess that is why I love it. It teaches me to wait. It teaches me to be patient. It teaches me that when I get my kids outside together and away from television, phones, and technology all together, that we have the best conversations. I have sat outside and inside so much the past week shelling peas and it has served my mind well. I have sorted through some problems and seen mother nature first hand. I have learned the hard way for the thousandth time, that waiting is hard, but rushing anything can cause waste and ruin. I have remembered all of the times that I took the reins in life to rush and push my way into what I wanted or thought was best for me. Sadly, that never works because God has a plan and His plans cannot be rushed or manipulated! I am reminded of a promise in Micah 7:7. It says “But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” Instead of rushing the crop, or rushing your life, looking and waiting for the LORD is a much better plan.