It’s time for our weekly writing prompt link-up!
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This week’s Five Minute Friday writing prompt is: SLOW
Ready, set . . . GO!
Over the years, I’ve heard several women and mentors of mine say that they only developed a love for gardening as they got older. I would smile and nod my head as they said it, not fully understanding what that experience must be like.
Apparently this is the year that I am officially “getting older,” as I have quite suddenly and unexpected developed a newfound love of growing things.
Maybe it’s because I’m about to hit a milestone birthday in a couple of months. Maybe it’s because I finally have a square of dirt on which to experiment.
Whatever the case may be, until this year, I have had zero interest in planting anything. I have had no desire to stick my hand in the dirt. On the rare occasion that I did pull a weed, I immediately got grossed out by the spiders and worms inevitably dwelling nearby.
But this year is different.
This year, I am finding such joy and contentment in watching things grow. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, but I happily sit in the grass with one hand in the dirt, sifting for weeds and rocks. I am fascinated by the potential of a single seed that eventually becomes a fully grown plant.
I stand in wonder after the rain and see how the flowers have bloomed, how the shoots have emerged, how the stems have grown.
I walk outside each day to see what new surprise awaits me. The opening of a previously closed bud, the hint of color peeking through.
It is a slow growth, and it is beautiful.
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Join the link-up below with your own five-minute freewrite, then read your link-up neighbor’s post and leave an encouraging comment:Â Â
I wish that I could slow on down
and watch a sunset’s fire,
but if I do I know I’ll drown,
full caught up in the gyre
that now marks each day and night,
compels me, whips me on
to open up my heart, and write,
ere the day I’m gone.
Is it worth it, this mad rush,
to place my words upon the page,
for I surely wield no grass-hand brush,
nor am I a sage…
just a joker with a job to do
‘fore I get the hook, God says I’m through.
Deep questions, indeed. Not so sure you’re not “a sage.” Thanks for sharing these with us each week.
Gardening and growing things have always seemed like something I “should” enjoy…that the lifestyle and quality of life desires somehow require me to enjoy it. And I try – but I have not gotten there yet. Maybe it will “just happen” one day for me too:) Enjoy your labors in the dirt!
I love how God has new things planned for each stage of our lives. We may be surprised by them, BUT He is not!
I have had a black thumb most of my life and been envious of my mother’s ability to literally grow anything in a desert, so the love of gardening has been elusive in most of my life, too. I get it! I also get the growing(ha) attraction as one gets older. To feel the vibrancy of life, to be an active participant instead of bystander. It’s definitely slow going, but it is such a marvelous metaphor for God’s perspective on our individual (and communal) lives.
Best of luck with your patch of ground! May many wonderful things grow there.
When we lived in the mountains we were avid raised bed, organic veggie gardeners. I loved the process and the harvest.
It is beautiful! Enjoy it and don’t worry about the pending milestone. We can love life and growth at any age. Thanks for being here and hosting his linkup, Kate.