Two Gardens

Actually, there aren't two gardens. There are two over-sized houses that are partially bordered by Chesapeake Bay waters and are more eminently bordered by several different gardens each. Flower gardens, vegetable gardens, herb gardens. The owners of each of these homes have called for my services in maintaining their numerous gardens. I water, weed, trim, spray, dead-head. It is enjoyable work, and I've expressed how very appreciative I am of the work I have.

This morning it was already sweltering hot when I headed over to the Parkers' house at 8:00. By 10:00, I was dripping in sweat, but I had to drive across the peninsula to water some flowers over at the Dingledines' (yes, that is their last name) house. I watered everywhere, and in the process, I used five different hoses. I'd reached yet another flowering plant with its insignificant label poking up out of the soil in front of it when I decided to sit down for a breather. I thanked God for how beautiful a day it was despite the heat, and I thanked Him again for giving me a job to do. But then I looked down at the water pouring out of the hose and realized my thankfulness isn't reaching outside of just God and me. What I mean is that I sat there watching water, something you can get in a cup for free at most any restaurant, and flashed back to my freshman year of college when a man came to speak at The Gathering, trying to recruit college kids to head over to Africa and build wells. I remember really wanting to go, but of course the cost of the trip was like paying a semester's tuition at college. My point here could be that I take advantage of stuff a lot while others are without some of life's necessities, such as water. That's something we generally try to remind ourselves of as frequently as possible. This time, though, in context to the water--the very very abundant supply of water, I couldn't just sit there feeding an aesthetic plant without feeling a pang of guilt. I wanted to stick the hose into a huge container that I could ship straight across the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to Africa.

Sometimes the advantage we take becomes a guilt we bear, and I'm praying about when it becomes a step we take. I don't want to pray prayers of thankfulness for *my* beautiful day. I want to pray prayers of thankfulness for yours, too.


This post is part of ShoutLaughLove. :)