Garden Destroyers

It doesn’t take much to destroy a garden. Ours used to look healthy, green and beautiful. We provided the right amount of sunshine, water, and nutrients, so it wasn’t outright noticeable why our plants were starting to die. From above everything seemed fine, but underneath there was more going on. We found that an unwelcome guest decided to take up residency in our backyard: a cottontail had burrowed underneath the top soil of our garden, interfering with our plant’s ability to absorb nutrients from the roots.

Sometimes, when we feel stuck in a negative situation, it’s easy to recognize and point out obvious problems and imperfections on the surface, (i.e. “my plants are starting to wither” or “the leaves are falling off”) but do we sometimes trying to find a solution based on faulty assumptions? For example, assuming our plants just needed a bit more water wouldn’t have fixed the problem, it would have made it worse. Instead, we had to dig a little deeper under the soil to understand what was really going on.

It’s good to evaluate how much time we spend focused on our roots. Our physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental health all need regular check-ups and maintenance; sometimes requiring us to dig a little deeper. Take time to inspect your roots, because like our garden, there may be something that not aware of burrowing below the surface.

-Joel Zerbe