Early Watering

It is my morning routine from May to October.
Talk my morning walk.
Come back home and water my plants.

There is something soothing in the routine.
The hanging begonias on my shady side porch.
The hibiscus on my sunny back deck.

Pull a weed here.
Dead head the hanging basket there.
Enjoy the daily growth I see.

It is so important to water early.
There have been a few mornings when the watering gets delayed.
Once the hot sun beats down on the plants, they can wither very quickly.

I am not a sun person.
I am too fair skinned and I sunburn too easily.
Watering early is best for me since I don’t have to be outside in the full sun.

When I was in eighth grade, we had a class picnic.
The picnic was at a public swimming pool across from our school.
The final hurrah before high school.

Being so fair skinned, I decided that I needed a little tan before I swam with my class.
There was really only one product available at the time.
It had a classic brown bottle, a unique smell, and a little girl and a dog on the front.

It was either that or baby oil.
There were literally girls who would sun themselves with baby oil and tin foil reflectors.
I didn’t use the reflector, but I did use the baby oil.

I sat in my yard, on a lawn chair, with my book and my greasy hands.
I fell asleep apparently…woke up, went inside, and saw a lobster in my place.
I was only out there for only a short time…not the hours some people spent in the sun.

It was a blistering sunburn…in places.
I cringe today to even think that I did that to myself.
Needless to say, I missed my eighth grade picnic.

My friend’s mother was a nurse.
She recommended that I put tea bags on my eyelids since they were a bit puffy as well.
She forgot to tell my to use plastic bags to hold the tea bags that had been steeping.

I was red with sunburn and brown with tea stains.
I will not go anywhere near the sun without sunscreen now.

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed feel among the thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears let him hear. (Matthew 13:3-8)

We can all understand this parable.
My own experience as an eighth grader helps me to relate to the sun scorching.
My morning plant watering routine shows me the importance of watering early.

It is so important to water our children early with the water of His Word.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)

It is so important to water ourselves early with the Word of God.
That is part of my morning routine as well.
Water my plants.
Water me.

Streams of water from my garden hose for my plants.
Streams of Living Water from the Word of God for my soul.

The sun will beat down and try to scorch.
The predators will try to snatch the Seed that has not firmly rooted.
We may even have the appearance of a deeply rooted plant.
Time and conditions will tell.

Good soil.
Thorough watering.
Lots of SON.

A beautiful plant for the display of His splendor.