Spring Planting

Spring Planting
by Louise Bergmann DuMont

My mother never threw out any fruit or vegetable scraps. Potato peels, apple cores and coffee grounds were all recycled long before our municipalities mandated recycling aluminum cans and newspapers. We called our recycling program a compost pile.

A friend of mine was recently having some trouble with her outdoor plants and wanted me to accompany her on lunchtime jaunt to pick up a very high-end plant fertilizer.

“Why don’t just throw your coffee grounds around the base of those plants?” I asked.

My friend’s eyebrows flew upward and her mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Those plants need acidic soil and coffee grounds are acidic. It would do the job just as well as your expensive fertilizer. We used to do it all the time when I was a kid.”

“Really?”

“Trust me on this. Just wait until the coffee grounds cool – then toss them around the base of your plants. If you don’t like the look, mix the grounds with a little dirt before you water the plants. It works.”

A few weeks later I again ran into my friend. She was grinning from ear to ear and waving me to come toward her.

“I’ve got to talk to you. Will you let me buy you a cup of coffee?”

“Sure. I’m always up for a cup of coffee.”

Her grin spread as we walked toward the cafe. “Remember what you told me about the coffee grounds?”

“Yes.”

“It worked just like you said it would! The plants are growing like crazy. But how often should I give them the coffee grounds? Is it better to mix it with the soil or just put it on top of the ground? Is it OK if the grounds actually touch the plant stem? How much water should I give the plants when I put the coffee down?”

I held up my hands as if to ward off the questions. “Whoa, girl.”

After we slipped into a booth and ordered our cappuccinos, I responded to her questions.

“This is coffee we’re talking about not some scientifically-concocted mega-growth miracle formula. Just throw the cool grounds under the plants after you are done with your Saturday pot of coffee. Water them if you want… or wait for the rain. This isn’t rocket science.”

She laughed. “If you say so... but it sure seems like a miracle formula to me.”

On my drive home I marveled at my friend’s concern for her plants. My father was one of those people who could grow anything, anywhere. He actually grew a tropical Passion Plant in Maine – outdoors! I, on the other hand, usually grow weeds. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a compost pile and I don’t fertilize my plants the way my dad did. Everyone knows that “rich soil” is good for plants, but few people want to think about what goes into that soil to make it rich. People avoid garbage but that is the very thing that makes the plants stronger.

There is a parallel in the Christian life. My character would not be the same if God did not send a little refuse my way. Those carefully saved apple cores known as financial struggles, that heap of vegetable peels called physical pain, and that big scoop of coffee grounds christened difficult personality types combine to alter my stunted growth. God fertilizes my life so that it will mature and produce fruit. Once developed, my healthy character can provide nourishment for others and who knows… God might even allow my fruit to become fertilizer for someone else’s life.

“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
II Corinthians 9:11

March Snows

March Snows
by Louise Bergmann DuMont

The white foam on the latte tickled my lip as I sipped at the beverage hiding beneath it. It was past midnight and I sat in a silent dark house, watching the snow fall outside our picture window. As the particularly large and lacy flakes descended, I pictured millions of grandmother-like angles crocheting doilies and tossing them to earth for our pleasure.

I love winter and I especially love snow. While most people revel in summer’s heat, I run from it. Summer makes me lazy and uncomfortable. Winter’s brisk winds invigorate me. Snow awakens my senses and refreshes my spirit. It makes me smile.

The foam on my latte was gone and I could feel a frown begin to form at the corners of my mouth. Muddy brown liquid sat where creamy white peaks, begging for a sprinkle of cinnamon, once stood. My gaze turned back to the window.

The sky had cleared and a full moon hung bright above the new fallen snow. The ground glistened and I found myself leaning forward to inspect the new vista more carefully. It was as if God had ground diamonds in the palm of his hand, before gently blowing the dust down to earth where it covered all living things. Bushes were frosted with the diamond studded snow like awkwardly iced cupcakes. The ground showed no driveways, no roads, no trace of human workmanship.

Snow is God’s great equalizer. Hordes of kids play football on my lawn each summer and it has taken its toll. Our neighbor’s lawn is carefully manicured, while dandelions, patches of dirt and crabgrass rule our lot each summer. But tonight, as moonlight streams over my yard, I can’t see any of that. It seems that both the unsightly and the beautiful can be treated to God’s blanket of white diamonds.


"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Isaiah 1:18

Resolutions

Resolutions
by Louise Bergmann DuMont

It is hard to believe but by the second week in January many individuals already broke the resolutions they made on New Year’s Eve. At one point I stopped making resolutions because the pain of their quick and ready destruction was more than I wanted to think about. The whole situation made me re-evaluate the resolutions I was making and try to discover why I could not keep them.

Here is what I learned
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When my goal is self centered (even if the goal is a good thing) the results are often temporary.
I can’t begin to recall how many times I started a diet on New Year’s Day. I know I need to lose a few pounds (and this is a good goal) but when the diet is only about how I look or how well I’ll fit into the latest fashions, my steam for the project quickly fades. I once made a resolution to give away one personal item every week. I felt this would help me get rid of material things and simplify my life. The problem was that it didn’t change my heart. I ended up buying things I didn’t really want just so I could give them away without getting rid of other things I wanted to keep. My materialistic tendencies continued until I was willing to let God change my heart.

When my goals are not in line with God’s goals for my life, every task will be a burden.
I’ve started a thousand projects that ended with less than satisfactory results. I love music but as the saying goes, “I can’t even carry a tune in a bucket.” Trying to learn an instrument was painful for me – and for my patient instructor. I tried one instrument after another, hoping to find something that would allow me to participate in my husband’s musical world. But every musician needs an audience. Once I relinquished my selfish desire to be a part of the band and choir, I was able focus on things for which God amply supplied me with the tools. Teaching writing, public speaking, directing events – all things bless others even as they bless me. When you use the gifts you are given, the tasks set before you are a pleasure.

When my goal is not in line with God’s will, even if I achieve the goal, I won’t be content.
Have you ever attained a long awaited goal only to find yourself unfulfilled? I remember a girlfriend who was still single after everyone else in our crowd got married. That year, she made a New Year’s resolution that she would be married before year-end. This woman threw herself into singles cruises, speed dating and bar hopping. True to her word, she was engaged by June and married by December – but he left her less than a year later. The cost of achieving that goal was unacceptable.

Goals and resolutions are in and of themselves not bad things. They key is to change in ways that lead us to be more Christ-like in personality and in our lifestyle.

This year my New Year’s resolution is simple. I want to hear what God has to say before I make decisions that affect me and my family. Moving in the direction God leads, assures me of success. He always provides me with the tools, the strength and any assistance I need to get His job done. When I know in advance that my resolution will not be in vain, my journey can be adventurous but it will never be overwhelming.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:2