A Steward Of Her Garden
Stories
LECTIONARY TALES FOR THE PULPIT
Series III, Cycle A
Grace loves to garden and she tends her garden carefully. She lives in a town of two million, in a quiet neighborhood in a three--bedroom house with a nice backyard. She is happy where she is.
The environment is very important to Grace, who is a retired geography teacher. Her husband is in the Alzheimer's unit at a nearby hospital, and Grace uses her time to garden as her meditation time. She has lived a good life, and she is thankful for every thing and every day she gets. She is grateful for her life of 81 years.
Grace is very careful about how she uses her garden space. Tomatoes are planted and trained to grow upward in cages. Her vines are tied to stakes with soft, discarded nylon stockings. Her corn grows along the back wall, tall and proud. Grace spreads torn newspaper under her cucumbers and pumpkins so they don't get bruised or rotten. Her cantaloupe and watermelon lay on grass clippings.
Grass clippings and other such things are collected in a wire mesh "box" which Grace turns over with her shovel once a week. It makes a nice mulch. Her compost pile is closer to the kitchen and any vegetable peel, fruit seeds, or organic material is thrown into it. She turns this pile over several times a week.
Fruits trees are numerous in her backyard. Grace makes sure she doesn't use pesticides on her fruit trees. She doesn't want to spoil the fruit, and she likes to hang birdhouses in the branches of her trees. The birds feel secure there, knowing they can fly to the cover of a branch if they need to. She fills her bird baths every morning; the birds are certainly active in her neighborhood! They chirp happily as she comes out to garden each morning.
Grace also cares for the neighborhood squirrel family. She collects anything the squirrels can eat and puts it on tin pans at the edge of her garden. Sometimes when the grandkids come over, she fills pine cones with peanut butter and bird seed and she puts them along tree branches. Oh, do the squirrels ever make a racket when they see those pine cones!
Happiness and simplicity are words for Grace while she is in her garden. And maybe tranquil and contemplative would describe her also. Her world outside these garden walls is filled with the grief of her husband's disease and ill health. But inside, she thanks God for another day, recounts all her many, many blessings, and takes care of her little corner of the world.
The environment is very important to Grace, who is a retired geography teacher. Her husband is in the Alzheimer's unit at a nearby hospital, and Grace uses her time to garden as her meditation time. She has lived a good life, and she is thankful for every thing and every day she gets. She is grateful for her life of 81 years.
Grace is very careful about how she uses her garden space. Tomatoes are planted and trained to grow upward in cages. Her vines are tied to stakes with soft, discarded nylon stockings. Her corn grows along the back wall, tall and proud. Grace spreads torn newspaper under her cucumbers and pumpkins so they don't get bruised or rotten. Her cantaloupe and watermelon lay on grass clippings.
Grass clippings and other such things are collected in a wire mesh "box" which Grace turns over with her shovel once a week. It makes a nice mulch. Her compost pile is closer to the kitchen and any vegetable peel, fruit seeds, or organic material is thrown into it. She turns this pile over several times a week.
Fruits trees are numerous in her backyard. Grace makes sure she doesn't use pesticides on her fruit trees. She doesn't want to spoil the fruit, and she likes to hang birdhouses in the branches of her trees. The birds feel secure there, knowing they can fly to the cover of a branch if they need to. She fills her bird baths every morning; the birds are certainly active in her neighborhood! They chirp happily as she comes out to garden each morning.
Grace also cares for the neighborhood squirrel family. She collects anything the squirrels can eat and puts it on tin pans at the edge of her garden. Sometimes when the grandkids come over, she fills pine cones with peanut butter and bird seed and she puts them along tree branches. Oh, do the squirrels ever make a racket when they see those pine cones!
Happiness and simplicity are words for Grace while she is in her garden. And maybe tranquil and contemplative would describe her also. Her world outside these garden walls is filled with the grief of her husband's disease and ill health. But inside, she thanks God for another day, recounts all her many, many blessings, and takes care of her little corner of the world.
