Wildflower Writes

Photo by  Christopher Williams  on  Unsplas h In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers , Sam is trying to convince Smeagol the value of potatoes: “Boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew. Lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish.” Potatoes really are versatile. Sam didn’t even mention potato skins, tater tots, gnocchi, hash browns, home fries… my grandmother even made leftover mashed potatoes into cinnamon rolls. If we can do all these amazing things with potatoes, just think what God can do with you! Sometimes it seems, in the grand scheme of things, among 7 billion current earth dwellers, across thousands of years, our contribution is so small. But only God has to worry about the “grand scheme.” Just like a thousand individual paint strokes come together to create a masterpiece, you have a part to play. You may represent a scattering of snow on a mountaintop or the shadow of a tree, but the painting is not complete without you. We may not get to see...

Dirt. Sunshine. Children’s laughter. It was a perfect recipe for starting a garden. I don’t grow things. I can’t even keep cut flowers alive for more than a day. I bought one of those already planted strawberry plants once. Somehow, it grew mold. And not one strawberry. My friend doesn’t grow things either. But she rents from a farmer who gave her a huge area to use for a garden. She invited a few of her friends to plant stuff. I bought some seed packets on a whim at the grocery store. I’m not even sure it’s anything I’ll eat if it grows, like yellow beans and a kind of lettuce I’ve never heard of. My friend was smart. She bought tomato plants, so she doesn’t have to make sure the seeds actually germinate. She inadvertently bought 48 plants, however. It’s good thing tomatoes are so versatile and healthy for you! I have fond memories of “helping” in the garden. My mom had this little plot in the backyard. She always bordered it with marigolds. She planted rhubarb, whic...