I've talked about everything from technology to term life insurance rates to table setting recently, but I haven't talked about my dog in a while...

Casey's great, still. I still swoon over his cuteness, and am embarrassed by his misbehavior. Especially when he breaks the Invisible Fence to greet a neighbor and her dog on a walk, then chases their cat up a tree, then comes back to our yard with one of their dog's tennis balls in his mouth. And then, the next morning, when I let him out the front door and then I realize he's taking longer than usual to come back and then realize it's because he's not in the yard at all. I check the back yard, and hear barking- Casey's barking- coming from the back of the neighbor's house and, finally, he comes home- with another tennis ball. It's embarrassing. I have a tennis-ball thief in my home.

The reason he breaks the Invisible Fence is this: He's a smart dog. He's figured out there's a range where his collar will beep, and a range where he'll get shocked. While we're out of his area of the yard (which is fairly frequently, since he can't get to the garden, driveway, mailbox, or garage), he sits right on the edge of the yard waiting for us, right where his collar beeps, but before he gets shocked. After doing this for a couple months, I think he's draining the battery down enough that the shock doesn't really hurt all that much. Watching him go through the fence with the battery mostly drained, he just kind of shakes his head, as if it was annoying, but not painful, which makes the fence not that much of a deterrent, and chasing the cat or rabbit through it pretty easy.

I guess I'm lucky- we have a sheepdog, which means he'll wander a little, but never run off for good. He knows how to get home, and always comes home. I've never been worried about losing him- just about making our neighbors hate us! I guess "Good fences make good neighbors" holds true in this case- and we're bad neighbors!

So, our question now is, where can we buy these collar batteries in bulk?!

So, I was playing with the "random quotations" link from a couple posts ago, and came upon this one:

Over the last week, on two occasions, I've had dinner guests over with less than 48 hours notice- and I love it! I'm posting about Hospitality over at Homemakers Who Work today, come over and check it out! I also made a mention of our Fourth of July cookout (which was one of the thrown-together dinners) on my food blog.

I really feel strongly about hospitality more and more- not about having the pearl necklace and cute apron to greet guests and serve hors d'oeuvres, but the significance of inviting people into my home and making them feel relaxed and welcomed and loved. Here's hoping I accomplish at least one of those!

• I harvested all the carrots, and they're prettier than last year's.
• The pea harvest came and went and only gave us a few meals worth of peas. Very disappointing.
• I harvested 2 heads of broccoli a little while back, and I got around to cooking them last night- only to discover (once they were on the table) that they were full of worms.  Not at all what you want to see on your table. Gross gross gross.
• I harvested on absolutely huge cucumber yesterday. Learned my lesson: I need to check for cucumbers more often. I figured since there was one very-overripe cucumber, that there'd be some ripe ones, too. No such luck.
• Also, I think I have squash bugs attacking the cucumbers already- the leaves are already starting to turn yellow. I hope for enough cucumbers to make pickles, and, if I get that, I won't be too upset.
• The tomatoes have flowers, and that makes me happy. All is not lost.
• I'm going to set out the soaker hoses tonight in hopes of watering the cucumbers & green beans to encourage all those baby cucumbers & baby beans to quickly grow up into full-sized veggies for me to harvest. I'm really looking forward to the beans.
• I started cauliflower seeds last weekend, in hopes of having a fall garden. Other fall crop plans include broccoli, spinach, chard, kale, and carrots. Unfortunately, I only have the carrot seeds right now. Where can I get seeds this late in the season?
• And the weeds remain.

I've not posted any garden pictures this year. In fact, I haven't even taken any.

Last year, and the year before in the apartment, I was so excited at each new development- each bud and sprout. This year, I don't even notice each bud and sprout- it's all I can do to keep the weeds from being taller than any of the sprouts! Have I been successful? Um, not really.

A couple weeks ago, I was getting really frustrated with it all. All these weeds, all this work, and nothing to show for it. All that I had harvested had popped up on its own- herbs, raspberries, some flowers, and not much else. Is this going to be worth it? Was I just lucky last year? Am I a huge gardening failure?

Right before church Saturday, a friend started asking me about my garden. I had harvested some peas last week, and a couple heads of broccoli. She commented all her plants seemed small and late. I told her my tomatoes were about "this high" bending down, putting my hand about mid-shin height. She laughed and said that's where hers were too, and now she didn't feel as bad. The conversation made me feel better, too.

During church, I kept thinking about it. The weed problem I'm blaming on myself- after last year's garlic was harvested, I didn't have a plan for that space, and weeds grew up quickly, causing there to be lots of weed seeds in the garden soil this year. I did my best to get crop seeds started on time, but I was late with many of them. And then the lesson in all this hit me:

I don't make things grow.


God makes things grow. 


Nothing in my power can make it rain (or, in the case of this spring, stop raining) or make the sun shine, or make the bugs come or go, or make the weeds come or go.


I can do my best to keep the beds clear, to plants seeds in their season, to plan and diagram the garden, but in the end, I have no power to make things grow.

These revelations are significant to me. Just like Jonah, who loved the vine that grew up and gave him shade, then cursed God when it went away, God made the point to me: You did nothing to make these things grow. I give and take away. What is it to you?


I'm also reminded of Jesus' parable of the wheat and weeds- the wheat and weeds must grow together, for when the weeds are pulled up, the good wheat may be, too. There are beds in my garden that are like this- dense grass is growing among the carrots, and pulling up the grass would pull up the crop, too- and, with carrots, the roots are obviously very important.

I am reminded of the weeds in my life- the hurts or sin that cannot be extracted without pulling out other parts of who I am. I know that the weeds in my life may stem from seeds embedded from another season of life. I know that I can try to keep weeds under control under my own power, and try my hardest to grow- but only God can redeem me, and only God can grow me. I am powerless on my own.

Rain is a blessing and a curse- it provides a resource to make both the good and bad things in the garden grow. In an untended or neglected garden, the bad stuff grows up quickly under much rain, and the good stuff gets choked out. In a well tended garden (which is very hard to do with lots of rain!), the good stuff flourishes.

Isn't it that way with people, too? When a person is given lots of resources, it can be either a blessing or a curse. Untended, the bad stuff in their life can grow up under the "blessing" of riches, while, when carefully managed, the extra resources can help a person flourish- but this is harder to accomplish!

And then, the harvest. I've been disappointed in the harvest so far, but looking back at the pictures of last year's garden, I'm reminded that the harvest season will come- soon!- we're just not there yet. I will get to see  and taste the fruits of my labor- in season- even though right now all it feels like is labor.

The work will pay off. The miracle of dirt-and-sunshine-and-water-into-food will come about. And all the credit will be God's, because I certainly haven't done anything miraculous.

I'm blogging about (Not) Doing It All over at Homemakers Who Work today. Hop over and say hi!