Withering

I was sitting out on my front porch the other day and notice my impatiens hanging basket was withering again.  Withering in the blasted heat that's blazed over our town this summer.  Withering from a wind storm that came through last week and took off most of it's blooms.  Withering from a serious lack of consistent watering.

Because of the terrible, early heat I gave up on my beloved garden this year...I'm generally so thankful to be on city amenities as opposed to a septic system or irrigation water but I would have given my right arm for the unlimited, life-giving water from the irrigation district this summer.  I probably wouldn't have abandoned my plants otherwise but all my watering was keeping pitifully small plants green with no growth.  What was the point?  I'd keep going over my allotted city water allowance and still wouldn't get any fruit.  So I stopped watering the garden and nearly stopped watering the hanging baskets.

The result has been sad little baskets with puny blooms and ever-withering leaves.

I couldn't help but see the metaphor for several other areas of my life.  Namely, my physical, emotional and spiritual health.

Each area has taken a good beating.  I'm feeling banged up, bruised, weak, and depleted.  The heat was turned on and never really brought back down to a manageable level.  I've been blown and tossed around...because of some things completely out of my control and because of sets of choices I'm completely responsible for.

I feel like I regularly douse my life with a good-long watering in one of these areas only to leave it to dry up, depleted of nutrients for days on end later.  I'll spend a bunch of time in worship one day letting the music soothe and cleanse my dry spirit but I won't consistently let the music flow through my life in a steady stream.  I'll commit to eating great and will stick with it for a few days; choosing nutrient-laden foods, cutting out the junk, and drinking plenty of water to detox.  Eventually my lack of self-control gets the better of me and I drop the charade instead letting my body run off fumes of protein and fiber and slogging through sugar, fat, carbs and caffeine.  I'll get together with a dear friend and let life-affirming conversation build me up and encourage me but eventually depression, scheduling conflicts and busyness creeps in and keeps me from connecting on a regular basis leaving me feeling lonely and isolated.

My withered hanging basket might technically have a plant in it but it's not a pretty plant.  It's not thriving or blooming or giving off a fragrance.  It droops and sags and even if I get it to perk up once in awhile it'll take dedicated care to get it back to it's former glory. 

Ahh the dedication, self-control and discipline it takes to nurture a plant, a garden, a heart, and a body.  It takes making the right choices over and over and over.  Especially when you don't "want" to.  It takes hanging on long enough to see results to make you want to to see it through. 

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  ~Galatians 6:9

As if...I only wish I owned this backyard!