The green bean-eyed monster

By Mama Mabel

 Yesterday, a neighbor mentioned that she was cooking up green beans for lunch that she had harvested from her garden that morning.  Thinking of the overgrown state of my own garden and the deliciousness of fresh green beans, I was a little jealous.  Then I was mad at myself for not taking better care of my garden. 

That afternoon, Coondog and I took a tour of said garden.  It’s barely distinguishable from the lush vegetation around it.  We’ve had mower problems and lots of rain which led to a lot of tall greenery.  The good news is that we found even more veggies sprouting up from last year’s crop that went to seed.  I decided that I’m not Superwoman and let myself off the hook for not keeping a garden with more square footage than my house in good shape using only basic hand tools while dealing with rain, a full-time job and all the other daily chores required to keep life going.  I had to consciously choose to not feel guilty for not being able to handle one more project.  Then I allowed myself to savor the hope that I will eat something out of my garden this year, even if it wasn’t meticulously tended to on a daily (or weekly) basis.  The bounty God gives us despite our shortcomings will be enough.  As always.