Green Bean Perspective

By Brenda Black


Right at my fingertips and about eye level – yes, that's the perfect place to pick green beans. No back strain, no embarrassing road side posture when traffic passes near the gardner. No mud spattered pods to clean. That's why I plant pole beans.

Still, I discovered in a year of glorious growth, that I've had to twist and bend all sorts of ways to not miss the pencil thick veggies camouflaged among the vines and foliage. In the picking, I gained some perspective not only about green bean harvest. My eyes were opened as well to a few things about the Gospel message and the people who hear it.

Those easy eye-level ones are a breeze to bring to Christ. They are ripe for the picking and eager to jump into the bucket. They make sharing faith simple. But for every one of those, there are countless others that demand extra time and effort to reach.

The clusters. You'll find them in groups of three or four, equally long and thick. Quite uniform, they cling to each other and hang conspicuously on the vines beneath their combined weight of influence. In their numbers, they are a handful. If one doesn't break loose, the others may drop to the ground in the jarring or vines be broken and left dangling with many more beans wilting because of the careless approach. Worse yet, in trying to reach the masses with one stealth swoop, there exists the risk of accidentally knocking off nearby blossoms or a tiny sprout.

One size usually does not fit all. I've found that to be true in clothing and in Christianity. Though people may modify their behavior to mirror that of their peers, they are still individual in heart and mind and soul. Every single person needs to meet Jesus one on one. That takes time and individualized tender tugs.

Ironically, pole beans, intended to make picking hassle free, have me nearly standing on my head to look up and underneath. I've had to change my angle, lift arms full of tangled tendrils and squint just right to spot a keeper. And sometimes, the most ready are laying all the way down on the ground.

Now, I could ignore them, step over them. I could choose to not waste my time on them and still have plenty of pods for the pot. But there they lay – some nearly perfect and others a darker green and a bit deformed. God wishes for none to perish, but for all to come. You may think me silly to go all Gospel while I'm in my garden. Sometimes that's where God speaks the sweetest, the softest and the most convicting lessons when I listen. The soft coo of a mourning dove or the “Bob White” call of a quail are whispers of God's voice. The soft nicker of a yearling foal or even the buzz of a honey bee as it passes near my ear gives me cause to know there is a Creator who cares for every creature and blade of grass on this earth. How much more He loves you and me and doesn't want anyone overlooked.

When I first started gathering, I methodically picked only one side of my cattle panel trellis. I was determined to not reach through the wire grid to snatch from the other side until I made my way back up the line over there. I'd see some ready and force myself not to touch. Then I began finding tough hardened pods that had somehow been overlooked. I'd chastise myself, “How could you have missed that?” I changed my approach. If I could see it and reach it, I picked it right then and there!

Oh for that kind of urgency when it comes to the souls of my fellow man. I see them. I can reach them. Then I tell myself I'll do it next time, believing there will always be a better opportunity. “I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2b)

The sad, awful truth is that hearts will not always stay tender and receptive. I am compelled by God's great love and mercy to go and tell, and tell if often and to everyone!

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:12-13)


 It's no surprise that most of the beans hidden were easier seen when the trailing clumps of leaves and vines were lifted to allow sunlight to penetrate once dark places. I could tell you what that means to me, but I'd rather you listen to the whispers of the Savior and receive your own green bean perspective.

My Noble Knight and His Shining Electric Fence

By Brenda Black

The ability of a raccoon to know that my sweet corn is two days from perfection is uncanny. When I discovered the two ears tested and stripped from their six-foot stalks after the first night of invasion, I was slightly intrigued and a bit frustrated, but not too troubled. I figured a couple of pie tins swinging in the breeze and a bright yellow raincoat on a piece of rebar would keep the burglars at bay. Then came the second morning after a night of their garden dancing and dining near my tin-pan band. And it became WAR! A dozen ears demolished and as many stalks laid low. With ears still clinging, I had all the evidence I needed to call in the cavalry.

My garden this year is one of the most beautiful and fruitful I've ever produced. Every weed, every crumb of earth, every sprig of green pulled, turned or planted by hand – my hands. Blistered and calloused fingers and feet marked with a flip flop tan are proof of the hours spent tending my little patch of wonder.

My husband who has praised my efforts admirably was nearly as troubled as I over the corn field destruction. If I had a trumpet, I would have blown it as that man set out on his noble mission to guard my castle garden and his lady with valiant determination. Three strands of hot wire and an electric charger went up in a couple of hours – not just around the corn, but the whole green kingdom! The following morning I awoke to find all stalks, tassels and ears intact. The garden queen was quite happy.

As I surveyed the grounds, I pondered our two approaches to battle. While I searched for shortcuts for a solution, Alan attacked it with the best wall of protection. His method proved that some things are just worth fighting for. That man does love his corn, and maybe me just a little.

In God's kingdom, we often suffer loss to the one who comes to kill, steal and destroy. We can try silly tricks to outwit the enemy and find ourselves just amusing him and feeding his fury. Satan and sin are real threats that demand determined combat. Instead of taking shortcuts, we must build the fence tall and make it dangerously hot to touch. It's called a hedge in old world vernacular, but it's purpose is timeless: Protect the harvest!

Letters from the apostle John were filled with good advice for building a wall of protection to keep the good fruit in and the thieves out. Through his writings he intended to share the joy of fellowship; to help believers avoid sin; to warn them about deceivers and to assure them of eternal life. He wanted believers to grow in obedience and love and to know that God would protect them from the devil's evil intentions. In the closing words of his first letter, he clearly delineates the boundaries between residents of the kingdom and the great deceiver.

“We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one does not touch him.” (1 John 5:18)

Though I'm married to a noble man who strives to protect me and the things that matter to me, it is my King and Savior who guards eternally. I am so very thankful for two great defenders and an electric fence.  

Growing Mud in My Garden

By Brenda Black

Mary, Mary, quite contrary – How does your garden grow? With mud to the knees and pools and ponds. And globs of goo all in a row.

I missed the ONE sunny, planting day this “spring.” I thought there would be more. Boy, was I wrong! It feels more like London in October than Missouri in April this year. The May flowers that are supposed to bloom following April showers, may have to arrive by boat if the sun doesn't wake up soon.

The few days she peeked her bronzed face through dreary skies offered slim opportunity. On those sparse occasions, the wind blew with such gale force, had I attempted sowing seed, I'd be harvesting lettuce half a mile down the road in a few weeks.

This was the year I planned to go all out. With grocery prices sky-rocketing, I hoped to live off the land and stop paying for gas at the pump, as well as the produce stand. Surely the sun will shine soon and I can proceed with the seed. And when the sun comes, the old timers say we'll go from soggy to crispy in a heartbeat. Aha! No wonder Mary is so contrary. Missouri mud can turn to concrete in a hurry.

So what's a gardner to do?

Watch and wait. Plant and pray. And count it all blessing.

Though inconvenienced by mud and overcast days, I am not one of the 318,000 Japanese homeless following the March tsunami. Neither am I among our neighbors much closer who are getting hammered in the Ozarks with high water. While food prices rise, God provides; and I am nowhere near the point of hunger like 925 million other people around the world, including 19 million in developed countries. “Only a stomach that rarely feels hungry scorns common things,” said the Roman philosopher Horace.

When I feel like whining and complaining over the little muddy aggravations in life, may I be silent and mindful of all that is good and right and beautiful. Contrariness is a choice – so is gratefulness. Besides, a thankful soul is a sign of higher intelligence said writer G.K. Chesterton. “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

I love that! And I agree. The smartest folks I know are thankful and happy.

Mary, Mary, extremely thankful. How does your garden grow? With spring time rains and ponds so full. And mud to squish between my toes.

You see, there is a sunny, silver lining beyond the clouds, visible only to those who scan the skies with gratitude. View the world as poet Ralph Waldo Emerson saw it – with appreciation: “For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends.” A thankful heart is a gift from God.

When the bottom falls out and the mud is up to the hip, deep roots help us keep our wits.”So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7)

Sunny dispositions are possible even in the rainiest of seasons. Remember, a dreary attitude is up to you. So tell me: How does your garden grow?