Snowdrops, Rabbits and Patience

The crocuses and snowdrops are blooming. It is time to tour my yard and see how my plants have weathered the winter. During the frigid temperatures I saw rabbit tracks in the snow but I didn’t know what the critters were up to.

I am dismayed to see that the bark has been chewed off my young peach tree, approximately one and one half feet from the ground. The branches look vigorous; I will wait to see if the loss of bark has an impact. The rose bushes look like I aggressively pruned them. The rabbits must have been hungry! Last fall a rabbit munched a hosta plant down to the ground. I wonder if it will come back. I will wait and see.

I have plans for a garden, a large box of seeds. I will start tomato plants and some flowers inside. As I think about planting I am reminded that gardening is a test of patience. I wrote about the practice of patience a few years ago.

Patience is a virtue, worth cultivating in ourselves and our children. I read an article by Pamela Druckerman that extolled the way French parents teach their children to wait. In Why French Parents Are Superior Druckerman pointed out that children who have learned patience are more content and better behaved.

It pleases me to watch my daughters as they make good choices in parenting. When I am talking with my daughters on the phone, invariably a child may want their attention. They calmly inform the child “I am talking to Grandma. When I am finished I can help you.” It is good for children to practice waiting.

One daughter has six children and the youngest is two years old. This little guy is aware that I often have some lollipops in my purse. If I stop by for a visit in the morning he runs to me with a big hug, and then he asks me, “Did you bring your purse? Do you have lollipops?”  When tell him, “yes I have lollipops”, I explain that he must wait until after lunch. He is satisfied.

Gardening provides practice in patience for me and for the grandchildren. We plant seeds and water them, waiting for the appearance of stem and leaves. Then we wait for flowers to bloom, for tomatoes to appear and ripen, for raspberry bushes to bear fruit.

The Bible teaches us to value and develop patience.

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Ecclesiastes 7:8

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. James 5:7-8