I love this beautiful sunset color rose. It was given to me by my sister-in-law several years ago. Fortunately, it must be very tough because I have a hard time with roses. I buy them and they have long graceful stems, huge buds , and big glossy leaves. I plant them according to directions and give them plenty of room for their roots, plant with peat moss and the next year they come up short and spindly and the blooms are about half the size they were before. I feel lucky that they come up at all. I admit that I don't always remember to feed them (hmmm), and I don't baby them a lot. I am really a pretty casual gardener when you get right down to it. It is probably a wonder that I have any flowers at all.
It occurs to me that my spiritual life is sometimes as neglected as my garden. I don't read my bible every day (most days, but not every day). I sometimes forget to check and see how I am doing growing the fruits of the spirit: love, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, self-control (ouch!)
In other words, I am almost as casual in my faith as I am in my garden. I am glad that God's grace means that he loves me even when I am not as good a gardener as I should be. But I need to cultivate and care for my faith more diligently. And my garden is getting weeded and fertilized today!
Thank you, again, for your words. You and I have a lot in common. My roses need more tending than I give them. And my spiritual "fruit" needs more care. You have challenged me to work on both today.
ReplyDeleteBreathtaking, just breathtaking!
ReplyDeleteAmy
Love the color of that rose and I too want to work harder at 'tending my spirtual
ReplyDeletegarden'. Thank you Kathy for the encouraging words.