Weed the Garden

Karen Ridder is a parishioner atSt. James Parishin Liberty anda convert to theCatholic Faith. Shegraduated fromthe University ofMissouri School ofJournalism and haswritten for numerouspublicationsin the Kansas Cityarea. Karen and herhusband Jeff havethree sons and adaughter.

M y 11-year-old announced to me in early spring he wanted to plant the garden by himself. Our garden sits at the back of our yard, partially behind the garage. It’s easy to forget about. It had not been great — for a while …

I thought, “Why not? It can’t hurt. It will give him a reason to be outside all summer.”

“Sure honey. Go ahead,” I said.

He researched and started seedlings in the kitchen window. He hoed, tilled and planted. He came in dirty and happy, reporting all of his progress to me. I didn’t pay much attention.

A few weeks into his project, he said, “Mom, come see my garden!”

I walked out to the garden. What I saw was pretty impressive. Everything he planted had come up so nicely — onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic; all very exciting.

“Good job, son,” I said. “It’s beautiful. Now, don’t forget to weed.”

“No, Mom, it’ll be fine,” He replied.

“You’ve got to weed,” I said.

“No, Mom. I’ve planted it in such a way that it will be fine.”

This went on for a while. Me reminding him to weed. Him assuring me that it would be OK. When I wandered back out to the garden a few weeks later, the weeds had taken over with a vengeance, crowding out the good growth I had seen before. That promising garden was now in major trouble. Those beautiful plants were suffering. I stood there looking at all that lost potential wondering what to do when a realization hit me. This garden is just like my children. Sure, they seem to be doing great, but I can’t forget to weed. If I do, the weeds will grow up and choke out their potential.

Jesus told a series of parables with this kind of warning. (Matthew 13). In them, seeds with potential are choked or crowded out because of a variety of problems, but the message in each is to be diligent. Be careful. Don’t forget to weed.

Getting our children from promising growth to fruit bearers is not an easy task. It requires daily diligence. We can’t just turn to God and say, “It’s fine, I’ve planted them in such a way that it will be fine.” That approach works only if you don’t believe in weeds.

Yes, it is God who ultimately grows our children, and if you are discouraged, turn to Ezekiel 36:36 for the reminder of God’s ability to replant and rebuild even the most desolate of gardens. But it is our job to tend the growth, guide the growth, provide stakes and trellises and space for growth — and never neglect our duty to weed.