Thank God for a beautiful space

Did I wake up this morning and say, "I think I will go ahead and plant flowers in the back flower bed"? No, I did not.

I woke up this morning and said, "Thank God for a day at home. Only Connor's tee ball game is going to get me away from the great luxury of a day at home."

When Mary Allen called to say that Connor's tee ball game had been rained out...and I thought about all the rain we have had the past week, that's when I realized it would be a perfect time to plant flowers.

Now it was not a perfect day in terms of convenience. This is the first day I have had home for weeks. May has been particularly demanding in terms of traveling with cabinet responsibilities and Monday, we begin another 3 day out-of-town meeting. So I have piles of mail to catch up on from being on the road for the last two weeks and little, but important things like laundry.

But all the rain has wonderfully softened the soil and I knew that planting today would be much, much easier than if I waited till a more convenient time (and, when I get real, when am I going to have a wonderfully accessible time?). Planting flowers today would take half the effort that it would in the later hot sun when the ground is hard.

That's the sweet thing about planting when the soil is moist: digging is delightful. There's not all that resistance that you get when the ground is hard. And as I planted,I prayed. I prayed for my churches where the soil is hard--where minds are made up and there is nothing in the world the preacher can do that is right. I prayed for God's love to shower down like the rain has watered the earth and loosen up the soil of hearts. I prayed for everyone who is so set in their ways that even trying to do something beautiful is hard. I know there are many families and relationships hurting because hearts are dry and hard and closed.

When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, the arrival of power came to obedient disciples. They had (for once) done exactly what Jesus told them to do. And obedience is one of the keys to loosening the soil of our hearts so that God can plant something beautiful in our lives. I was able to plant a place of beauty in my back yard today. How much more I hope God will have the right conditions to do something amazing in our churches this Pentecost weekend!