I love gardening. I always have, and now I love spending time in my garden with my kids.

Some of my earliest and most special memories of time spent with my mom include days out in the garden. There are pictures in my baby scrapbook of me as a two-year-old holding a watering can and (most likely) drowning a flower in water. Throughout primary and secondary school, I remember planting new flowers each spring around our house, and eagerly awaiting the first signs of tulips shooting out of the snow.

Gardening Bliss

There is something so peaceful about gardening.

I love the stillness and quiet, the time away from the busyness of work and just the daily grind of things. It’s in many ways therapeutic too. There’s just something about working with your hands, getting dirty and spending long (sometimes hard) hours outside that can be very fulfilling and satisfying. God made us to work with our hands, to be gardeners, and to delight in this work.

I guess it was only natural then that I wanted to share my love of gardening with my son when he was old enough to walk (even if that meant that he spent most of those first few times stomping in the dirt and throwing seeds in a bucket).

To be honest, gardening with a toddler is not always peaceful and quiet. There can be a certain level of stress, in fact, that comes with the territory. I will say that my son loves to be helpful and is always wanting to participate in whatever I’m doing, but that can often equate to spilled bags of dirt, fertilizer sprinkled who knows where, flowers being plucked and more.

But I have learned to go with the flow, to live with a bit of mess, and not worry too much about spilled dirt.

Glimpses of God in My Garden

The real reason I want to be out in the garden with my son is twofold: I want gardening to be a part of the many ways in which we bond as mother and son, and I am hoping and praying that gardening can become a means to open my son’s eyes to the wonderful world of nature, and the beauty of God’s world, all around him.

I’m grateful to say that there’s been a bit of success in both those areas so far.

Gardening has now become this “thing” we do together. My son knows the names of the nurseries and stores we go to for flowers. Surprisingly, he’s not impatient or restless while looking at flowers now. In fact, we can actually enjoy some nice conversations about colors and heights and styles as we go up and down aisles. He tells me what he likes and I talk about my favorites too.

The conversations that I have with my son about gardening show me glimpses of God. From my son’s enthusiasm for butterfly bushes and lemon trees, I can see his God-given delight for the world around him. From his eagerness to dig with shovels and scrounge in the dirt, I see his love for the earth God has made and the beauty in cultivating it. My heart can only swell with pride and joy.

These moments are part of what make up the little ways in which we have grown closer as momma and child. It’s something we do together; it’s something we can talk about; and it’s a way that we can both see God together.

Gardening Teaches Gentleness

Gardening has increased my son’s love for things outside himself, for things great and small, and with it a greater tendency toward gentleness and kindness.

We have to be very careful when planting a small flower like a snapdragon. We have to be patient in watching the flower slowly grow each day. We have to be diligent in providing daily care for the different plants and trees in our yard.

With this daily care and attention, we also get to notice the vibrant life in our garden, from the littlest ladybugs and butterflies to the fast flying hummingbirds. My son has seen them all, and I love seeing his sense of wonder and amazement at these creatures.

I can’t say enough about all the wonderful opportunities and lessons that gardening with my son has afforded us, and one of my promises to him is to continue instilling this love of nature and a care for the world around him as he continues to grow up.

I hope and pray that gardening becomes a means to open my son’s eyes to the wonderful world of nature, and the beauty of God's world, all around him. Click To Tweet