I found these old toolboxes at a junk shop and thought I'd try them for planting. There's
something established about them that I like. They just look "gardeny" to me. Always on the
lookout for containers to use since pots are costly, I thought I'd experiment.
Toolboxes hold tools of the trade. Every profession and every hobby has tools that enable the craftsman to create. Without the right tools it is just about impossible to obtain good results. For the gardener it is shovels, hoes, clippers, gloves, wheelbarrows, and the list goes on and on. We
always think of tools as objects to use which is in the dictionary definition. But the tool I am thinking
of is not an object. It is a part of our body - the back. All the tools that go in a toolbox or in a shed
to use working in the garden are pretty worthless without the strength of our back. When is the last time you have thanked our Lord for His breath of strength in you? This summer God has been speaking and whispering to me each day as I have been "overgardening". In the back of my mind was the whisper, "This might be your last summer to really garden." By the end of each day pain
was increasingly becoming severe in my back. For a serious gardener this is a serious problem!
And sure enough, doctors have given me their command - no bending, no lifting, no twisting. No more gardening. So, Lord, You are redirecting. Let me be soft clay in Your hands.
Maybe this is a good encouragement for you to spend some quality time praising the Lord
for the daily strength and stamina He gives you. We are so prone to take so much for granted! Isn't
that the height of arrogance! Whether you are a gardener or whatever you are, it is the Lord who
gives you each breath and the day-to-day strength to use the tools in your toolbox. K.C.
