Dr. Ted here!  I admit it; gardening is tough.  I remember when I told Dr. Morter (Dad), “When I have my own place, I’ll never have animals to feed, gardens to work, nor grass to mow!”  I often joked I’d have Astroturf for a lawn and certainly never have a garden.  And now, well, I just laugh.  With 6 types of mowers on call at any given time and three tillers from 7’ wide to mini tillers, I have embraced my situation and found my bliss.

So, the biggest challenge with a garden is probably the weeds, and here’s why.  They never give up!  I remember a movie I saw back in my younger years, Little Shop of Horrors.  Remember, “Feed me, Seymour!”?  Well, like the plant in the movie, weeds never quit . . . never!  And the only way to keep ahead of them is to give them what they can’t stand.  Yes, it turns out that too much of a good thing can be bad . . . at least for weeds.  The best way to manage weeds is to overdo it with compost.  Now, compost is good for the soil and good for all plants, including weeds, but if you really lay it on thick, it will choke out the weeds.  And, as I was working the soil yesterday on my knees, I smiled with gratitude, remembering the lessons I learned from Dad.  He could lay lessons on . . . thick.

Lessons like: keep on learning and growing, never give up on anything, and change direction when necessary were his words of wisdom.  Build your foundation based on truth and knowledge, and good things will prevail.  Grow yourself to be the best at whatever you choose to be or do.

The question is, which will grow the fastest in your life?  Typically, the “weeds” win hands-down because we unconsciously feed them every day.  Maybe just a little, but feed them nonetheless.  And weeds will take over if given the chance, and they come out of nowhere!

This is easy.  What grows is what you feed.  It’s the same with day-to-day circumstances in my life. . What am I feeding?  Where are my thoughts?  What is it I truly desire?  Well, I hope to get ripe tomatoes as soon as possible.  And, the only way to get those tomatoes to grow to maturity is to stop the weeds, and to compost!  I choose to focus my thoughts on the positive, on goodness and thankfulness – the compost.  I see ripe tomatoes, and I don’t see weeds.  And, when I compost my life with so much positive and loving thinking, the weeds of negativity can’t grow! 

Link to Morter March Monday Rebroadcast: