why kids are like vegetables...

They grow....

Though you planted them, though you had some small part in their creation, it somehow still takes you by surprise. They flourish, unfurl... blossom. They emerge into something amazing and while yes, certainly, you watered and fertilised... you know you can't take full credit for their fruition.

They are just so incredible, huh??! You want to take photos every day and share them on Facebook!!! Look, everyone, look! Because yes, you are bursting with pride, but really it's more than that... it's marvel. Look... these amazing creations. They are so much more than the sum of their parts. They are so much more than the labour and love we pour into them. We 'blindly' plant and 'hopefully' water but it is God who gives their growth... and it is much more than we could ever have hoped or imagined.

You want to shout this wonder to the roof tops, you want to murmur it over and over in your heart of hearts... It's not pride, you know you can't take credit for all they have become. You want to just shout out an invitation to others - to marvel and wonder along side you..... look at these fascinating things! How did they become all this?!

Am I getting carried away here!? Ahem ;) Well, gardening can do that to a girl!!

You see, over the last year, I have become an eager (if somewhat clueless) owner of a kitchen garden. I plant things.... some fail, some thrive, it's all a bit of an experiment, but to my utter shock and amazement, I love it. Never thought I would say that about gardening.

I have been taken by surprise at how absolutely thrilling it is to see actual, real live, vegetables growing in my very own veggie patch. Sure, some wither and fade (*cough*raspeberries*cough*) but the ones that make it.... yowzers, I cannot believe how exciting it is!

Out there, amongst the dirt and the mulch, I couldn't help but be surprised at how satisfying it was to raise this little crop... humble though it is! That feeling of joy, satisfaction, pride but also gratitude and wonder... it felt like a lighter shade of how I feel about my kids. Now, I am not saying I love my zucchinis as much as my kids.... (or am I?! Ha!). But I kept asking myself, why am I so excited about this? Why do I want to talk to everyone about every garden picking? Why do I feel the urge to take a photo of every cherry tomato and share it on my Facebook page?!

Yes I am excited and 'proud' in a way... but honestly, I hardly feel like I can take credit for this crop. I really have no idea what I am doing it, I am kinda winging the whole venture, it's rather 'learn as you go'. I plant a seedling, I water (sporadically!) and fertilise (thanks, Chookies for your manure!)... but the result is honestly still a shock!! I can only marvel at the result... in a similar manner (just a glimmer of the depth of it) in which I marvel at my children. I nurture and train and discipline and pray... yet who they are - these amazing, individual, strong, quirky little people - is so much greater than what I invest in them. They are hardy and robust little creatures really, to stand up to my fumbling parenting! I can only gaze at them in wonder, thank God and yes... snap a photo to share on Facebook ;)

Whether in the garden or the home, that feeling of love, of joy in nurturing, of satisfaction in seeing them thrive, that wonder in seeing something grow and flourish.... it is the same privilege to watch a life emerge. It is a daily miracle that we get to witness up close.

So... that's why I think kids are like vegetables!! :)

My lovely readers, fellow parents and gardeners, let's continue to prepare the soil, to plant, to water, nurture and tend... Give it all you've got. Knowing we hardly know what we are doing, yet knowing that the 'produce' will be something far greater than the sum of its parts...something we can marvel in. Go ahead, enjoy your bounty of blessings! Watch them thrive before your very eyes xx


Just some musings from my kitchen garden :)