We eat A LOT. of watermelon. 🍉
Month after month we tended to our watermelon plants as they went from seedlings to plants and they grew so well they left the bed and began to completely overtake the driveway.
The sad thing is, we didn't get any good watermelon.
They were small, weird shaped, and didn't taste very good.
The ones that probably would have tasted decent got eaten by our rabbits.
With fall quickly approaching, we realized too much money had been spent with too little yeild so... we gave up our garden-grown watermelon dreams.
Two months passed and we gladly watched our water bill return to normal, and while we went and hunted watermelon from the jungles of Costco 😉, our watermelon patch at home withered away.
On the night of October 27, a HUGE wind/rain storm passed through town. The next morning I went outside to see which of the kids left-out-toys got blown away. As I surveyed the yard, something big, round, and green caught my eye.
The storm had blown and tossed what was left of our unsuccessful "watermelon patch" all around and revealed a hidden treasure...
A GIANT watermelon.
There it was.
I hurried my beautiful watermelon baby inside and called the whole family to come and see what I had found. Everyone was just as shocked and surprised as I was. We waited for Jaron to come home before we cut it open, and when we did we were even more surprised that it was the most delicious watermelon any of us had ever had!
We ate the whole thing in one sitting, and it is a precious memory I will never forget for one reason- and it isn't for what you may think.
_________________
Last month, for the first time in my life, someone who I have loved dearly, someone who I had a wonderful relationship with, someone who was a part of my daily life...died.
My father-in-law, unexpextedly passed away.
I've gone through hard things, but those three weeks took the cake. Even still, sometimes I still feel the after-shock of the loss.
But guess what?
There was watermelon.
Lol, no.. not really. But let me explain.
Sometimes, growing faith can feel like trying to grow watermelon in the Nevada desert.
Just like how all the work of digging, planting, sheltering, watering, weeding and fertilizing all began to feel pointless when I wasn't getting the results I wanted...
Faith is like that.
Sometimes all the hours spent arguing with kids to get them into church clothes, distracted-ly trying to read scriptures, thought-wandering prayers... and the whole myriad of things that make up religion and faith-based worship in God all seem to be more trouble than they are worth.
Why even do it?
What's the point of working so hard when you can just give up the whole charade and take the risk of buying a maybe-decent watermelon at Costco?
The storm.
The storm reveals the fruit.
A storm we never saw coming, came for us the 15th of January.
I never in a million years pictured myself waking up my kids, and borrowing a friend's car at 3 in the morning to drive to the ICU so my kids could see their beloved, fun, cool grandpa... some-what alive, for the last time.
But my faith..
My faith was not shaken.
Not even a little bit.
No anger.
No despair.
No hopelessness.
Not even confusion.
Sadness? Yes of course.
But overall?
Peace.
Sweet, tender, warming peace.
Indeed, "a peace that passeth ALL understanding."
(Philippians 4:7)
The fruit of faith IS that peace.
And it is a peace that only going through a horrible storm can reveal.
There is a quote that says,
"...in this world of tribulation, “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Indeed, as we walk uprightly and remember our covenants, “all things shall work together for your good.”
ALL things.
for our good.
Lived with faith, trials and sacrifices we would never choose can bless us and others in ways never imagined."
The point I'm trying to make is this.
It's not wasted.
Every time you go to church even though you would rather be anywhere else.
Every time you take the sacrament, even if it just feels like you're eating a tiny peace of stale bread and barely quenching thirst with a tiny drop of water in plastic cup...
Every time you open your scriptures..
Every time you pray.. even if it is just "saying" a prayer and not actually CONVERSING with God..
Every church-related class you attend- even if your skin is crawling the whole time..
Every covenant you make.
Every sacrifice you make- whether it is service, or monetary..
Every time you do ANY of those things
IT IS NOT WASTED.
You are investing, drop by drop... into growing your faith.
And when it matters, when it really, REALLY matters..
There will. be. that peace.
That peace that is the fruit of YOUR faith that YOU sacrificed to grow.
I am so SO grateful for the stillness, calmness, tranquility, confidence and the incredible amount of love that never left me during the agonizing moments I faced last month.
None of what happened was easy, nor do am I ignorant of the difficult days still ahead and the many storms that have yet to come- but I already can see so many ways that God is and has been and always will be ...
working it all for my good, and blessing me with His astounding peace.
