Traveling the Rock Road

This story came to me through a friend who gave me permission to share with you good people.

I love gardening, raising numerous fruits and vegetables that we love to eat fresh or canned. At work a number garden and enjoy telling how our crops are doing and getting new ideas from each other. During one of those conversations, a coworker named Jack was listening to all we were talking about and commented that he would like to start gardening but didn’t know a thing. Sam, a man who had been growing a garden for years told him he’d come over to his house and help him get started. He told him what to buy at the store and that weekend they’d get started. Saturday morning Sam showed up at Jack’s house with a tiller loaded on his truck. Soon he had an area in the back yard all tilled up. They added fertilizer and Sam tilled the soil again. Then they started putting the plants in the ground in straight rows adding Epsom salt and water to each one. They worked all that morning and half the afternoon and finally finished preparing Jim’s new garden. Sam told him what he would have to do to ensure proper growth and that he would drop by occasionally to give more pointers and check on the progress.

Jim was so excited when he began to see small green tomatoes that would ripen to a bright red, lettuce as the heads grew larger, beans beginning to sprout, small ears of corn growing in the stocks, cucumbers, zucchini, and squash filling up the area that once was only black soil, seeds and tiny plants.  Everyday he’d rush home from work to see the progress of his garden and do whatever work he needed to keep his plot plush and rich to produce the food he was growing with his own hands. Jim would get his wife and daughter to come and see the progress, but he could see they didn’t share the same enthusiasm that he did. His wife would say, “That’s nice, Jim, but are you sure this stuff is going to be safe to eat?” Like Jim she never had a garden before and was nervous about eating anything growing in the dirt of their backyard. His daughter was of the same mindset and told her dad, “I’m not eating any of that stuff!” Still, that didn’t deter Jim’s enthusiasm and he knew his family would change their tune come harvest.

That moment finally came and all of Jim’s hard work had paid off. Each day he would gather more and more crops to bring proudly into the kitchen to show his wife for her to prepare. Sam had given him written instructions on canning, freezing, and preparing vegetables to eat right away. His wife would continue to look doubtful, but Jim was happy with his results. He’d even bring pictures to showoff what he grew. Didn’t seem like anything could rain on his happiness. Well, almost anything.

Jim showed up at worked one day, but with a different demeanor, like a sadness in is soul. He pulled Sam off to the side to have a private talk. We couldn’t tell what they were saying, but you could tell by their looks it was serous. Later Sam told the rest of us that Jim’s wife finally told him there was no way she was going to eat any of the food he grew. She and his daughter just didn’t trust it so they we’re going to take a chance. Since Sam had helped him get started, Jim wanted him to have all the crop, to which he agreed. We all felt bad for Jim, going to all the work, elated with the results, but then not to reap any of the benefits except to give it all away. Sad.

Two weeks later Sam was having a yard party and invited everyone on the crew to come; this included Jim and his family. The food he and his wife prepared was incredible. Besides burgers and hotdogs there were salads with tasty cucumbers, peppers, onions and tomatoes, corn on the cob, green bean casserole, zucchini flan and potato cakes. Sam had put out a feast that was pleasing to everyone there, especially Jim’s wife. She went to Sam’s wife to thank her for inviting them and tell how much she loved all the dishes. Sam’s wife smiled and then told her something that made her face turn as red as the tomatoes. “Well I need to thank you! After all, you and Jim gave us all the vegetables we ate today.” Jim’s wife’s stomach went from feeling happy, to a rather sick feeling.

There’s a quote that goes like this, “Faith is trusting God even when you don’t understand. Often God leads us in a direction that we have a hard time trusting, perhaps it’s something new and different to anything we ever did before. Only to realize the blessings we missed out on by not trusting. “To trust God in the light is nothing, but trust him in the dark—that is faith.” Charles Spurgeon. Another one I like is “Faith is trusting God even when you don’t understand His plan.” There have been times in my life that I met trusting God’s plan the same way Jim’s wife trusted him. She loved her husband, but just couldn’t bring herself to trust food that she didn’t buy at the store or in the restaurant. That took more faith than she was ready to give–just like us at times with God. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I Know The Plans I Have For You’ Declares the Lord, ‘Plans to Prosper You and Not to Harm You, Plans to Give You Hope and a Future.”

These two “Traveler’s of the Rock Road” learned a lot that year, not just in the benefits of growing their own food but practicing faith and trust. The next season they grew another garden and she leaned how to preserve the vegetables so they could enjoy them until the next harvest. Showers of blessings can come in many different ways. Even as tomatoes and cucumbers!

See ya next time!