“What I Found While Tending the Garden”

Yesterday, I stepped into my garden. Not with a plan… just knowing that it was time. The air had shifted. The season had turned. And something in me felt ready to begin again.

I started by clearing what was left behind. Old, dried leaves. Brittle stalks that once held life but now only took up space.

I pruned back what had overgrown, carefully, intentionally,  not to destroy, but to make room. As I worked, something shifted in me. This wasn’t just about the garden. It rarely is.

As I knelt down and moved the soil, I began to notice something… Life was already there. My onions were pushing through. My chives had quietly returned. And the garlic,  strong, steady, persistent, was breaking through the soil without any announcement. And I paused. Because I hadn’t planted anything new yet. And still… something was growing.

It reminds me of the parable  Jesus shared about the seed growing in the soil (Mark 4). The farmer scattered the seed and went on with his days, and yet the seed began to grow, quietly, steadily, he did not even know how.

Standing there in my garden, I realized… some things in our lives are growing the same way. Beneath the surface. Without announcement. Without effort on our part. Simply because God has already set growth in motion.

In that moment, I realized something I almost missed: Growth doesn’t always begin when we decide it’s time. Sometimes, it’s already happening beneath the surface, quietly…faithfully… without our attention.

Maybe that’s what wellness looks like in this season. Not forcing something new. But tending to what is already trying to grow. What I was doing in the garden,  clearing, pruning, making space, was just as important as planting. Because what we remove matters just as much as what we add. Old patterns. Neglected habits. Things that no longer serve us… They can quietly crowd out what is trying to live.

There is something deeply healing about gardening. It invites movement, gentle, natural, unforced. It calms the mind. It reconnects you with rhythm, with breath, with presence. Research even shows that time spent in the garden can reduce stress, support physical activity, and restore emotional balance. But beyond the research…You feel it.

God began everything in a garden. Not in noise. Not in hurry. But in a space designed for growth, care, and connection.  He still meets us there. Not just in the soil beneath our hands, but in the quiet work happening within us.

As I stood up and looked over what I had done, I asked myself: What in me is already pushing through? What is quietly growing… even if I haven’t noticed? What just needs a little more space… a little more care… a little more grace?

I don’t have to rush this season. I don’t have to do everything at once. I can clear a little.
Tend a little. Notice a little more. Because just like the garden, Growth is already happening.

Pearl's Prayer

Lord,
Thank You for the reminder that growth is already at work within me.
Help me to clear what no longer belongs and to nurture what You are bringing forth.
Give me patience in this season and wisdom to tend to what matters most.

Amen.