Taking care of the garden

My weight loss journey is very much like tending my garden.

Every year at this time I'm filled with hope and visions for the backyard.  I will work feverishly getting weeds pulled, plants fed and beds mulched.  My muscles loudly protest at the bending, twisting, tugging and pulling and the poison ivy makes me miserable, but I press on because I know it will be worth it.

By late-spring everything is almost perfect. The flowers are blooming, the weeds are under control, insects aren't an issue and the warm glorious sun is a blessing for me and the plants. The vegetable garden has neat little rows of tomatoes, beans and squash, promising a bounty for our dinner table.  As soon as I'm prescribed prednisone the poison ivy blisters disappear.

I'm sure that Better Homes and Gardens will be calling soon wanting to do an article on the yard. Life is good.

Lamb's Ear

By the time summer approaches my muscles have forgiven me and the poison ivy has healed but the flower beds aren't as pretty as they could be.  The weeds have reappeared, black spot and insects — especially Japanese beetles — have become my nemesis, and the birds, rabbits and squirrels are regularly raiding the vegetable garden when I'm not looking.  I'm discouraged, but I haven't given up hope.

When August comes, I have retreated to the air conditioned living room. The sun has become an enemy and scorched what was left of my pitiful vegetable garden. The weeds have completely overrun the flower beds, the black spot has stripped the roses bare and the grass crunches under my feet. The only thing that's thriving is the lamb's ear which seems to be able to grow in concrete and the poison ivy is waiting patiently in the bushes to attack me at least one more time before Thanksgiving.

When I do venture out in the scalding heat it's only long enough to declare that I give up. I'm not going to bother with a garden next year because it's just not worth the effort.

The winter months will find me daydreaming about tulips, roses and fresh tomatoes. I've completely forgotten about the failures, heat and skin rashes. I'm spending a good deal of my time perusing garden magazines trying to decide what I'll put in place of plants that didn't make it last year. I can almost taste the tomato sandwiches AND I have a new soap that's supposed to prevent poison ivy.

The changes I'm making physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally are just like my garden.  There are different seasons each bringing different challenges. I've had set backs and become very discouraged but I know that there are also rewards to my effort and if something isn't working out like I had hoped it would …well... I'll just focus on what is working, start thinking about what I can do different next time and be very thankful that exercising regularly, making good food choices and staying in God's Word will not expose me to poison ivy.