Mid winter blues, rambling and reflections

Today I ordered seeds for my garden.  It's February.  Honestly, in Canada, I think they should call it Wishingforspringuary.  I'm longing for the warm soil and unmistakeable scent that tells us Spring has arrived...when I walk like a crazy woman around the yard looking for little green shoots. 
 Every year it is the same...a Winter full of good intentions, a Spring full of busy enthusiasm, a Summer of growth (the weeds) or lack thereof (the vegetables) and a mess in the garden come Fall, when I walk like a crazy woman around the garden looking for the survivors of a summer of Weedageddon.  I mean...I had whippersnipped around my vine plants in that part of the garden just to FIND them, it was so bad. It's a miracle I have any harvest at all...I really do marvel at it. It's time for the painful, honest, truth.
  I am a terrible gardener. I start seeds tenderly indoors only to put them out too soon and kill 6 weeks of work.  I love my raised beds. They are three and a half feet high...I love them. I can grow anything in them and keep them weeded and pretty. Did I mention I love them?  (I could use at least another 6 of them, babe, if you're reading. ;)
  When it comes to the other parts of the garden, I am lazy.  I've come to a shameful realization this past year that my life, brain, heart, is pretty much a shambles when it comes to anything I really have to work at. I work so hard at pulling the weeds and getting rid of the bad stuff, the clutter, the bugs, the ugly...that it's easy to forget WHY. 
 Gardening ought to be about promoting the beautiful, the healthy, the vibrant.  It does involved, pulling weeds, getting rid of the bad stuff, the clutter, the bugs and the ugly, but the focus is on nurturing what is good.
  And so during this month of Wishingforspringuary, it's a good time to think about nurturing the growth of the fruits of the Spirit, to focus on the positive, to prepare for the battle of Spring, Summer and Fall..and to be content to rest in the arms and the grace of the great Gardener. And to be thankful, oh so thankful, that our meager harvest is covered by the holy righteousness of Christ.

    ~Abigail