Roots and Ground

"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19

Good morning, friends!

It won't be long now.

In just a few short weeks, IT will be hitting me.  Every February, like clockwork, I start counting down.

No, it's not for Valentine's Day, as much as I enjoy that.  It's not for President's Day, or Saint Patrick's Day, or any other known holiday.  It doesn't even have a date.

I know it's coming, and I can't wait.

In a few weeks, my husband and children, if they don't see me in the house, know right where I am.

Outside.  In the garden.  Spring fever is lying in wait, ready to call me outside.

I love gardening.  I never thought I would. Growing up, I didn't have a green thumb.  I didn't even have a brown thumb.  I had a BLACK thumb.

Something has changed in me throughout the years, and I find myself becoming increasingly impatient for the return of warm weather.  I start saving in March and planning what new bushes, flowers and trees I will add to my garden this year.

When my husband and I built our house here in Boves, I had dreams of planting flowers, bushes, trees, even vegetables.  Do you know what I harvested from my garden the first year?

Rocks.  Lots and lots of rocks.

Our yard is a slab of limestone with a thin layer of topsoil.  In order for any plant more sturdy than grass to grow, it takes a lot of love, a lot of patience, and a lot of potting soil.

Ever heard the expression, "dirt cheap?" Well, dirt is NOT cheap, as we have found out.

I am proud to report that our garden, almost seven years old, boasts rose bushes, bulbs, flowering shrubs and hedges.  We even have a maple tree (lovingly referred to as "the stick") faithfully pushing out new branches and leaves each year.

Thinking about my garden reminds me of the hard work that my family and I have invested in our garden. The results are far from finished, but I delight in watching new things grow, and planting new offerings each year and watching them spread their roots into the ground and thrive.

Roots and ground.  

I love the imagery of the Bible.  There are so many beautiful passages that describe God's love for His children.  I love this passage in Ephesians that talks about me as God's child, being "rooted and grounded in love."  Rooted means to become stable, and grounded means to lay a foundation.

What makes me stable, and what is to be my foundation?

Love.  God's amazing, sacrificial, unconditional, unparalleled love.

God's love is so wonderful that in this life, I will only scratch the surface.  Paul's prayer for this church was that they would know God's love in all its fulness.  I cannot begin to comprehend it, but I want to spend the rest of my life in the pursuit of its knowledge.

My garden will grow this year, because the plants I have invested in are well-grounded, have placed deep roots and are thriving.

May I thrive in God's love, so that I may bloom here in France in the garden where I have been planted.