Preparedness

I used to think that I couldn't grow anything. In fact, the only plant that stayed alive for me was a fern. I received that fern from a group of small children the year I did summer stock theater in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They gave me the fern as a going away present from the Primary (a children's organization in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - the "Mormons").

That fern went with me every where. I kid you not. I even took it with me to back to college. I just couldn't kill the thing! (Not that I tried, but you know, everything else I'd grown died.)

Even when I got married and moved into my little newlywed apartment, that fern came with me. My husband learned to call it Fred. That's right. I'd named my plant - because you see, by this time it felt like it was a part of me.

Why? Yes, you guessed it. Because it just kept on growing - even during one busy semester when I think I only watered it twice.

So when in the Mormon church I used to hear the suggestion to grow a garden as a part of personal preparedness, I had to laugh. Me? Grow a garden? Yeah, right!

I knew the importance of gardening skills. Those skills are the same part of wisdom that overall prudent living is made of. If times got hard and I had a garden to tide me over, I knew I'd appreciate it. The Lord desires our happiness, after all. Besides, the price of vegetables at the grocery store seems to do nothing but inflate.

But I never could grow a garden until I really decided to put my mind to it. That was when I realized that gardening really only takes a couple of things: seeds, earth, water, sun ... and FAITH!

Faith is nothing more than being willing to take action toward a desired outcome. It's that simple. And when we combine our faith with the power of prayer, the Lord blesses our efforts with miraculous outcomes.

Now my family has had the opportunity to eat homegrown lettuce, tomatoes, and even sipped on Chocolate Mint tea (oh, so yummy!). Not only is the food healthier, it tastes to much better.

So the moral of the story? Never say something is too hard. If the Lord's prophet admonish wisdom in some action or another, listen and try it. With faith you can do anything - even gardening!