Public Service Announcement! Just wanted to mention- our New Deli team is ready to serve you. We usually close for a few days for an annual camping trip, but this year, the team elected to keep the place up and running while Tom and I take off for a few. Thanks Team, and thanks to all our great New Deli patrons for your business!
Elijah’s been with us for a few years now, and is “suited” for the job, haha… Nisa’s a Next-Gen-New-Deli team member who’s received a lot of on-the-job training from her mom, who has been with us for over 12 years. Yay, Team!
OK- meanwhile, back at the ranch… My garden’s been trying to teach me a few things. I needed a solution to a particular, perennial nuisance- suckers! For years, I had to take extra time (and energy) to deal with this problem- our Green Gage Plum tree produced this extra growth relentlessly. So much of the garden is a harmonious palate of colors and textures, and then, oof. Those darn suckers pop up like an unwanted bullhorn, saying, “Hey, look at me! Forget that beautiful garden!”
I finally ran across an article kindly posted by a tree care expert. It talked about deep watering. So, even though I’ve been trying to keep up with the watering, it’s mostly surface watering, so the tree’s roots don’t go deep. Hence the suckers. They pop up from all the surface roots, encouraged by my surface watering…
I followed the article’s suggestion, digging a couple feet down into the dirt, inserting a PVC pipe and a dripline, in several places around the outskirts of the tree. (OK, actually, Tom did most of that work.) But it’s awesome- the tree is getting some deep watering now. It looks happy. And maybe there will even be less suckers in the future.
I thought of how the sucker/watering thing applied to other challenges in my life. So, there’s always going to be annoying or painful or recurring situations, but what can I do about it? I can’t change others. But I can work on myself.
Of course I got the opportunity to do that. I had complained about someone else, and received much sympathy for my plight. But then I realized I didn’t really want people to agree with “sweet lil’ old me”. I wanted to figure out what root cause in me might’ve helped things go in a certain direction.
For instance, I can be just a little too ambitious, not through God’s leading but my own, and I may end up not perfectly reading a situation, which ultimately leads to a scenario I want to complain about. It might LOOK like I “haven’t done anything wrong”. But. God knows, I played my part.
Bottom line: I don’t want to complain about others! If the devil can encourage us to keep looking at the other guy, and how wrong they might be, then the devil’s work is done, with no effort on his part.
It’s just a reminder- I need to go deep. “Surface watering”, with pats on the back, sympathy for self-induced plights and such, may temporarily feel good, but I need to get that true nourishment that comes from God. Deep watering!
Isaiah 58:11 ► “The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.”
Psalm 19:7 ► “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.”
Enjoyed your article. Great reminder of how I need to work on myself.
Thanks Darlene. I have been seeing some real miracles happen, by doing just that! God works in ways we never even imagined!