The Goodness of the Garden

Heavenly Father-God, out in the garden there are small balls of tomatoes storing up their juice, every day coming closer to blushing into red.  Butterbean vines are mysteriously twining their way up the wire, always wrapping themselves in the same direction no matter where they are.  What a miracle Your creation is!  Thank You for all the many different vegetables You have given us.  There is such a huge variety of tastes and textures, each one bringing its own special flavour to our tables.  The corn is springing up now that it's had rain, tall stalks of deep green reaching for the sky.  How can something grow so slowly that we can't see it, and yet daily seem to grow in leaps and bounds?  Sometimes the life of my spirit seems that way.  I can't see that I'm any closer in my following You... but then I think back and realize that I too have grown in leaps and bounds.  Lord, help me to reach up to You with hands of thanksgiving, as the corn reaches to the sky!   Help me never to take the joy of food for granted.  And please, gracious Spirit of God, don't let me ever, ever refuse to share with those who are in need of a meal.  You have freely shared the bounty of the earth with us; each plant giving not only the fruit of its produce, but the seed by which it can come forth again .  May we never forget to just as freely share the goodness of Your earth with each other, in the name of Jesus and for Your glory, our Loving Father - Amen.