August....

....is a month of abundance.  Hot days, warm nights.  Summer rain.  Sunshine.  Sunshine.  Sunshine.  All these things bring about abundance in a garden. 

 Eggplants.

 The "wealthy" apples, just like my grandma grew, from the tree we thought was dead.

 Pears growing in their perfect roundness.

 The sweetness of nectar sustaining such beauty.

Yet....these same things....sunshine, and heat, and even rain....the things that are essential for growth....they also stress the plants.  Too much of any of these causes the plants to be stunted and weak. And as I'm out in the garden, (like Eve?) I wonder how one balances all this.  How do we, creatures that need growth to live, how do we ever control the "circumstances" enough to avoid stress and thrive?

 The summer goodness also brings weeds.  The garden was full of them when we got home!  I didn't mind too much, because nerd that I am, I actually like weeding.  It sorts my insides out without me knowing it.

And in case you haven't seen this crazy picture yet....the summer goodness also brought this to my potato patch....

 And no, I didn't chase them away even though the Mr. McGregor in me thought about it.  I waited a few days until their eyes opened and then I did! 

 They sure were sweet to watch though.  The boys loved, loved, loved them.  And when we released them (ahem...chased them out with a stick) the little hollow left behind did feel a bit sad and empty.  And I sat and weeded around their old home after they were gone (yes I left the weeds while they were here so they'd have something to eat) I kept thinking, thinking about how the same goodness grows both the good and the "bad".  Doesn't it?

And what about me?  How do I handle the sun shining down on me?  What do I do when it's too hot too many days in a row and I just can't breath?  What about when the rains come washing down so hard that I can't see in front of me at all and I don't know which way to turn?  How do I handle all of it?  I went to bed that night feeling like I didn't know anything at all.  Only that somehow I still knew that God is good, but how do I make sense of it all?

The next morning I woke to this....

 The cardinal flowers that I had waited all summer for, finally blooming, showing their brightness in the morning sunshine!

 A yellow finch husking sunflower seeds like an old man does peanuts....

(His eye on the sparrow?)

 And boys.  Boys making pancakes.  (note the storm trooper "flipper")  Boys that greet each day with a freshness that is contagious.  (Morning by morning new mercies I see...)

 And then later in the week....the boy who all last summer and this season too...just couldn't find the courage to join in at soccer, yet desperately wanted to go each time.  Such a struggle, maybe more for the mama than the boy.  And finally, as if I was the most forgetful of all children, finally after many many times of struggling with this...I mumble this weak prayer to the one who fixes hearts...(please help him, Lord) and then the very next time...this!  Out there the whole game!  Smile on his little brown face!

Perhaps we manage all of this crazy goodness by just accepting the Grace?  With open hands.  And we keep going.  Trusting that our ship will come to no harm that He doesn't have providence over.  That no struggle will be too big for Him to guide us through.  That even though we don't always understand, we can trust that He is good.  He is love.  We are loved.