Lou's Grave Garden

Ole Lou was a big dog. I didn't realize quite how big until I started digging the hole to bury him. After I'd dug as much as I could dig, and had a hole that seemed enormous, Sam took a turn. When Ryan came home, he looked at the grave, shook his head, and picked up a shovel. He kept at it until the work was done.

After Lou died, I wrapped him in a sheet, and lowered him into the hole we'd all worked to dig. There wasn't an inch of extra room. I filled it in and mounded the dirt on top, just like Sam told me to do.

The red dirt piled high has left a raw, ugly scar in the backyard that jars me every time I see it.

I've given considerable thought to beautifying the spot and making a kind of memorial to the dog we loved for fifteen years. Ryan and Lou grew up together. He was a much-loved part of our family, and stayed as cheerful as ever to the very last. 

I wanted to plant something over his grave, but the summer heat was too hot for new shrubs. At last, I made my plan. I'd plant zinnas now, and put a re-blooming azalea there in the fall. It would be a kind of grave-garden.

My seeds arrived in the mail one day last week. When I plant those seeds just under the surface of the ground, I don't have to worry about what will grow. Zinna seeds grow zinnas. Every single time.

That's what happens when we plant seeds. Watermelon seeds always grow watermelons. Spinach seeds always grow spinach. Flower seeds always grow flowers. 

In that same way, the choices we make on a daily basis are like seeds sown in the garden of life. We have the option, every day, to sow seeds of righteousness or seeds of idolatry and futility. The choices we make, in lifestyle, in actions, and attitudes, will bear fruit consistent with those choices. 

It's vitally important for us to sow wise and godly choices every day, for those seeds of choice bear fruit both now and in the hereafter. 

Worldly choices bring worldly rewards, but that isn't the kind of yield that carries over into eternity in the way we'd hope. It's only the seeds of righteousness that yield both a beautiful life now and joy in the hereafter.

Today, let's take a look at the harvest from our choices and make sure we're bearing fruit that yields an eternal reward.

"and the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." Matthew 13:23 nasb
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Stinky Hearts and Circling Vultures

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Here's the link to my Global Outreach page: Leanna Hollis MD
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