Garden, Weed, Seed, Feed, Grow: The Seasons of Life

Life reminds me a lot of a garden.

There are seasons when everything seems to be blooming. There are seasons when we are planting and waiting. And there are seasons when it feels like all we are doing is pulling weeds.

But every season has a purpose.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that growth isn’t always about adding more. Sometimes growth begins by removing what no longer belongs.

GARDEN: Look at What You’re Growing

Your life is your garden.

Your thoughts, relationships, habits, faith, work, and the people you influence are all growing somewhere within it.

Every once in a while, we need to walk through our garden and really look at what is there.

What is flourishing?

What needs attention?

What have I been neglecting?

And what am I allowing to grow that was never meant to stay?

You cannot tend a garden you refuse to examine.

And sometimes, when we look closely, we discover something other people can’t see.

People may look at me and think I believe I’m special. They may see confidence, accomplishments, a smile, or someone willing to step forward and be seen.

But what they don’t always see is what happens on the inside.

There are still moments when I feel unworthy.

There are moments when I question whether I am enough, whether I belong in the room, or whether I have anything important to offer.

Maybe you have felt that way too.

The outside of someone’s garden never tells you everything happening beneath the soil.

WEED: Remove What Is Choking Your Growth

Every garden gets weeds.

So does every life.

Fear can become a weed. Comparison can become a weed. Resentment, doubt, negative self-talk, and old beliefs can quietly take root.

And for me, one of those weeds has been unworthiness.

That little voice that whispers:

Who do you think you are?

Why would anyone listen to you?

You’re not as special as people think you believe you are.

For years, I could allow those thoughts to grow without realizing how much space they were taking up.

But here’s what I’m learning:

Believing that God created me for a purpose isn’t thinking I’m better than anyone else.

Stepping into the gifts God gave me isn’t arrogance.

Allowing myself to be seen isn’t saying I’m more important than someone else.

And recognizing my own worth doesn’t take anything away from yours.

There is room in God’s garden for all of us to bloom.

Sometimes the weed we need to pull isn’t what someone else thinks about us.

It’s what we’ve started believing about ourselves.

SEED: Decide What You Want to Plant

Once you’ve made room, it’s time to plant.

Seeds are small.

So are most beginnings.

A prayer can be a seed.

A new thought can be a seed.

One phone call, one conversation, one act of kindness, one decision to forgive, or one courageous step toward your purpose can become a seed.

And sometimes the seed is simply replacing:

“I’m not worthy”

with:

“God created me with purpose.”

Not because I am perfect.

Not because I am better than anyone else.

But because I am His creation.

We often underestimate beginnings because they don’t look like the outcome we’re praying for.

But you don’t plant a seed today and dig it up tomorrow because you don’t see a flower.

You trust what is happening beneath the soil.

Faith works much the same way.

Sometimes God is doing His greatest work where we cannot yet see it.

FEED: Nourish What You Want to Grow

Planting isn’t enough.

Whatever you want to grow must be fed.

If you want stronger faith, feed your faith.

If you want a healthier mind, feed your mind.

If you want better relationships, invest in them.

If you have a dream, give it your attention.

And if you’re learning to believe that you are worthy of the purpose God placed within you, feed that belief too.

What we repeatedly feed becomes stronger.

If we constantly feed fear with worst-case scenarios, fear grows.

If we feed comparison by watching everyone else’s life, comparison grows.

If we feed that voice saying, “You’re not enough,” eventually it becomes difficult to hear anything else.

But if we feed faith with prayer, gratitude, Scripture, positive relationships, and purposeful action, faith grows.

Ask yourself:

What am I feeding every day?

Because your answer may tell you what your life will look like in the next season.

GROW: Give Yourself Permission to Become

Growth takes time.

A garden doesn’t apologize because it isn’t blooming in January.

It understands seasons.

Maybe we need to give ourselves that same grace.

There is a season for planting.

A season for waiting.

A season for pruning.

A season for blooming.

And yes, sometimes there is even a season for resting.

Not every season of your life is supposed to look productive from the outside.

Some seasons are about developing roots.

Some seasons are about finally believing that you deserve to grow.

And some seasons are about realizing you don’t have to make yourself smaller so someone else feels comfortable.

You don’t have to believe you’re better than someone else to recognize that you have value.

You don’t have to think you’re special to understand that you were created uniquely.

And you don’t have to have everything figured out before God can use your life to influence someone else’s.

Roots matter.

Because the deeper the roots, the stronger we can stand when the storms come.

So wherever you are in life today, don’t compare your garden to someone else’s.

Tend the ground God has given you.

Garden.
Weed.
Seed.
Feed.
Grow.

Look honestly at your life.

Pull the weeds of fear, comparison, and unworthiness.

Plant seeds of faith, purpose, love, and possibility.

Feed what matters.

Then give yourself permission and time to grow.

And when the seasons change, look back.

You may discover that the season you thought was burying you was actually the season when God was planting you.

Maybe you’re not becoming someone “special.”

Maybe you’re finally becoming the person God always knew was inside that seed.

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