:: In.a.Mirror.Dimly ::

This week I have invested quite a lot of time into launching my church’s new garden ministry which will grow food for local food banks/soup kitchens. We had an unbelievable number of plant donations, but we still lacked one critical component for our garden as of Wednesday: Compost.

Since we are gardening in a community plot, there’s no telling how depleted the soil may be after continuous use. In order for our plants to produce at a decent rate, the soil needed some nutrients.

Though we’d been given some monetary donations, I had hoped to save our funding for future expenses. Therefore, I sought out a business in our area to donate 20 bags of compost.

After missing the guy in charge of donations a few times and experiencing a few delays, I finally met with him on Wednesday, the very day I’d hoped to work the compost into the soil with a fellow volunteer.

It was a very delicate conversation—we need your help, like, really, really soon.

He said they could most likely help us, but he needed to check with his supervisor first thing in the morning.

And so I improvised and worked on a few plants that didn’t require compost as much. It wasn’t how I’d hoped things would go, but we were plenty busy and accomplished much.

It just didn’t fit my schedule.

The following morning I woke up early, picked up the compost that was set aside for me, and raced to the garden in time to meet a few volunteers. We planted most of the garden in our newly fertile soil, but it sure became hot while we were out there.

Looking back on the past week, we turned compost into most of the garden, put all of the donated plants into the ground, and even laid straw as a mulch in some places. Everything we put into the ground was donated and nothing went to waste.

However, the more I look back at my plans for this past week, the more I realize how dramatically they were changed. We had plenty of provision, but it didn’t always come at the times and places that I’d expected. Even the tiller and weed whacker we used on Monday were improvised to a certain degree.

In looking at this garden as a ministry, I can see how God has been providing for us all along. I see it as Kingdom work to feed the poor, even if we’re just starting with our humble little 700 sq. foot plot. And he is caring for our needs.

However, in waiting for God’s provision, I’m learning to remain flexible and to trust that while my timing may be imperfect and subject to change, his timing is always perfect. Getting myself onto his schedule is the hard part.