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I don’t want to garden anymore. August heat and humidity make me want to do the bare minimum. And I'm learning to accept that. Sometimes, we have to take a step back and conserve our energy rather than forcing ourselves to do something we dread. And honestly, the weeds will come right back even if I do risk heat stroke to tidy the garden. Working through this weather would eventually make me resent the whole process.

A few things I can do to make August gardening bearable is to only do a little work in the early morning or late evening. Picking blackberries, checking beehives, and pulling weeds are best done in the morning. Collecting eggs, picking green beans, and mowing/trimming are all best done in the evening when the grass is dry.  I’m lucky that we have a gas stove in the garage so I can do some canning out there to keep the heat out of the house.

It’s also time to sow fall crops, which is new to me. I’m happy to try it this year to have a harvest when the weather is cooler. I would like to try carrots, Brussels sprouts and broccoli since these are all vegetables that I like and can occasionally convince my kids to try. Hopefully, I still have seeds from this spring to try for fall. I’ll also be harvesting some of my green beans to dry the seeds for next year’s planting.

So I will harvest and preserve, but ultimately, August is a month of making decisions that will keep my love of gardening intact. I’ll do what I must and I’ll do what I can, but I’ll be “preserving” myself in the air conditioning a lot this month.

Weariness in the Garden of Our Hearts

Do you ever just feel tired? I mean, weary to the core. Like you just want to throw your hands up and say, “The heck with it.”

I know I’ve experienced this tiredness in my heart – which sometimes we call “burnout” in ministry.

In these moments of tiredness, I invite you to think of the weariness of Jesus. He spent His years of public ministry surrounded by people who were desperate for His words, His attention, His healing touch. He was constantly giving Himself away.

Even when He withdrew from the public eye, He was followed by His disciples or by the crowds. They hungered for Him. Jesus must have been so tired at times.

Since He was fully human and fully divine, neither one of these natures overpowered the other. In other words, Jesus felt the weariness that we feel. Maybe you're feeling it now.

When these moments come, know that we have a God who not only understands, but abides with us in that weariness.

Pay attention to your weariness and use it as an opportunity to connect with the weary heart of Christ. Allow Him to see you, to love you, and to give you His strength to endure.