And the LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden, and there he placed the man whom he had formed.      Genesis 2:8
 
            And the LORD God planted a garden…… I find that phrase fascinating, because it implies an extra level of design.  All that God had made was “good,” and everything teemed with life.  The entire planet was a paradise.  Much of it still is.  But there was a place even more so – a place God paid even more attention to, a place more carefully arranged – God’s garden.  God’s garden was made especially for us.  It was where he intended us to live.  It was also where he intended us to garden.
            I always thought it special that God spends Genesis 1-2 creating life and gardening, then asks us to do the same: “God blessed them and said ‘be fruitful and multiply’” (Genesis 1:28), and “The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15).  I wonder what that garden looked like.  Was it bursting with over-planted blooms like an English cottage garden?  Were there formal beds laid out in geometric patterns?  Was Eden planted along lines already existing in nature, like in a Japanese garden?  One day we will know.
            God made a garden for us, and made us to garden.  I haven’t had a garden since we left Ohio 15 years ago, though I was raised around serious, successful gardeners.  My grandfather Browning knew how to mix manures (chicken, horse, cow, pig) to get just the right concoction for a particular vegetable.  My grandmother Browning was particularly successful with anything that flowered, and my Grandmother Bryson had such a green thumb she could get a railroad tie to sprout.  I don’t think any vegetable gardener I will ever meet will surpass Neil Kent.  Neil, who is Susan Foy’s dad, would attend to his rather large garden plot all year long, growing green fertilizer through the winter to be mulched into the soil when spring came.  The result would be the best tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, asparagus, and squash I (or anyone) will ever enjoy – especially when prepared by Susan’s mom, Ethel.  If we get to have Ethel’s squash casserole at least once a week in heaven, I’ll count myself doubly blessed.

            We have three gardens here on our 12 acres at the Manassas Church of Christ, and I like nothing better than to take a walk around and visit each.  Our Memory Garden, near the lower entrance to our property is getting well known in town.  Families, even wedding parties stop by to take photos in it.  Originally designed by Gloria Crane, and brought to life by John Brady (and a host of helpers), it contains our memory stone, and such a variety of flowering plants and shrubs.  It is full of life and color, but not overly so.  There is room, and space to appreciate each part, as well as the whole.  Go out one afternoon and stop in front of a crepe myrtle, or a butterfly bush and count the different kinds of moths, butterflies, and bees you can find on just one plant.  Remember Who designed it all, and for whom He designed it, and then give thanks.
            Straight back from the Memory Garden is what was, at first, a run-off ditch (even now it is referred to as “the mosquito pond”), but now it is a wetlands-habitat.  Filled with cattails, chickory, wild asters, wild roses, golden-rod, milkweed, and Queen-Anne’s Lace; it is home to red-winged blackbirds, cedar waxwings, raccoons, pie-plate sized bull-frogs, rabbits, groundhogs, and an occasional Blue Heron.  Stroll back there sometime, and remember that even after we have dug and scarred a piece of ground, life and beauty will find a way to flourish.  Then remember Who arranged things this way, and give thanks.
            This year the Discovery Scouts put in a vegetable garden by the garage out back.  A cleaner, better kept little garden would be hard to find anywhere.  They have planted half-runners, peppers, summer squash, tomatoes, and melons.  The Discovery Scouts plan to share their harvest with the needy, and our shut-ins.  Go back there and take a look.  Be amazed at the bounty to be had from a small plot of well-tended ground.  Remember Who provides that bounty, and give thanks.
            God planted a garden.  He planted it for us to live in and to keep.  The Bible says we are made of dirt and God’s breath (Genesis 2:7).  To visit a garden is to expose one’s self to that earth, and the life God makes possible.  Let us not allow ourselves to be surrounded by such beauty and bounty this summer without remembering God and giving Him thanks.