Growing

"My Ex-spearmint"

At the beginning of summer I purchased a variety of seeds with the intent of having an herb garden - only maybe not all herbs - more of a 'whatever' garden ('Because if anything grows, it will be a miracle garden', I said to myself very very deep down inside my soul).

I wasn't selective about these so-called seeds, mostly because I had (and still have) no idea what I'm doing. Neither thumb remotely resembles any shade of green whatsoever.  I even recycled some old dirt from a former (live) plant - aka a dead plant. Always a good sign.

When I started to plant the spearmint seeds on one side of the rectangular pot, they all came flying out of the package because they were so tiny. I let them be and started planting some basil (I think) and some spinach. I KNOW, right? I'm creative that way - don't be jealous.

Can we talk about those teeny tiny little wee spearmint seeds? That 2 foot tall thing in the photo above is what has become of them. What frightens me about this is that when I look up spearmint plants online, they don't look like this. But before you say it's a weed, just humor this greenless thumbed girl for a sec! Too soon?

Let's rewind to when I planted these tiny guys: I buried them in dirt, and then I watered them and prayed that something would grow. I didn't stop there - I kept watering, don't worry, but I seriously gave up on the spearmint. Then it happened! Well, actually I thought there was a hair or something sticking out of the dirt. I almost yanked it before I realized it was a living, growing, sprouting, teeny tiny plant! I was pretty excited that something had actually grown because of my help. Yes, I have kids, but they seemed a little less fragile. And now that they are growing up and out I'm all about trying to grow something with less of an ego.

Did I mention that it's over 2 feet tall? It's very bossy next to my basil and spinach. Just sayin'.

These seeds reminded me of the story Jesus told about faith and a mustard seed. Mustard seeds are rather small, but apparently they pack a pretty big punch once they are grown. He said we only need teeny tiny little wee faith (the size of a mustard seed) and something very big can be done with that faith. (This is my very own paraphrase... You're welcome).

Just the fact that my plant (whether spearmint or a weed) brought this truth to mind causes this girl to want to keep growing - both in my faith and maybe a few more herbs or weeds or vegetables. Whatever. I'm pretty relaxed that way.