in His Time
Parenting is a lot like gardening…
The gardener tills the ground and plants a seed, within days a sprout pushes up through the soil and spreads two small leaves. The gardener waters it and the sun heats the soil. Soon blossoms appear followed by baby melons. It only takes ninety days to grow a melon.
The gardener takes a pit, first he dries it then puts it in cold storage for three months. He plants it in a small pot of soil and sets it in the window giving it the perfect conditions to grow. Two weeks later two small leaves emerge and then another set. Next, the farmer takes the pot outside and sets it where the sun won’t be too harsh by day and takes it in at night to protect it from the cold. After a week of allowing the plant to adjust to the weather, he plants it in the ground. The sun beats on it and the winter freezes it.

Every spring the farmer cuts back the branches giving it a foundation to shape it. The tree gets bigger. Deer nibbles on the tips of its branches. Summer storms blow hard against it. A child carves their name into its bark leaving a scar. Some storms are so intense branches break. The tree begins to offer him shade. A bird lands in it, sings, and builds a nest.
Blossoms fill every branch and bees come to collect pollen. Then one day at the right time he gets a ladder and he fills a bucket with beautiful sweet cherries, so much fruit that he shares with many friends. It takes five years to grow a cherry tree.
At the end of the day, the farmer sits down at his table with a large slice of sweet melon and a bowl full of dark sweet cherries. He bows his head and thanks God for the fruit He has given him.