Cuttings from a Small Garden 2

CUTTINGS FROM A SMALL GARDEN by Pauline Standen

2.         Frogs in the hole.

I wanted to raise the level of the soil along one side of the garden and across the back, so I used log-roll edging.  By the end of summer I reached a place that needed a lot of work, and as the weather was against me I decided to stop until the spring.  At the point where I stopped I had half laid a length of log-roll, so I dug a hole and dropped the remaining rolled up end in it.

In the spring, when I lifted the rolled up end out of the hole I found two frogs hiding in there.  They had been using the hole for their winter shelter.  I gave them a gentle poke to try to persuade them to move, but they just sat there looking at me.  They liked the hole.  It had been their security and shelter, and they were probably not happy that I was changing things.  I picked one up and took it to another part of the garden, then went back for the other one.  As I put the second one down where its friend had been the first one had gone.  Where was it?  Yes, it had rushed back to the hole and was sitting there staring at me.  I picked it up again and turned round to see number two on its way back to the hole!  This was a good game that went on back and forth several times.

I felt very sorry for the poor little things, but there was no point in them stubbornly returning to the hole, because it was about to disappear.  They would have to move on or get buried.  I finally managed to pick them up together, took them to a corner of the garden where there was plenty of cover for their safety and ran back to fill in the hole before they got there.

God our Father has his good plans for our lives and for his church.  Sometimes things happen, and changes are made, which cause us to feel insecure and threatened.  Do we really want God’s will to be done and his kingdom to come?  Or are we going to stubbornly squat in our secure little hole and hope that it will all go away?  It is horrible to feel that everything is changing and that it is all out of our control, but God is full of compassion for us.  He knows our weaknesses and fears, but he will do what he wants to do and will not allow us to get in his way.  Let’s be a people who recognize the hand of the Master Gardener and know how to co-operate with him, able to endure these discomforts with faith.  The end result will be worth it.  If we really trust him, he will keep us in a safe place whilst he does the work.

What happened to the frogs?  Well they seemed to enjoy their new environment.  They produced lots of spawn that year and many of the tadpoles survived into froghood.  I often saw them around the garden when weeding or hunting under the plants for slugs and snails.  The little ones were really cute.

• “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels.  Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, there is no other; I am God and there is none like me.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come.  I say: my purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please…………what I have said, that will I bring about;  what I have planned, that will I do.” (Isaiah 46:8-11)
• “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)
• “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”.  (Hebrews 12:2)