Spring: A Time to Be Ready

It’s a sunny day on the farm! Are you ready to be my helper? Today we want to get the garden ready for planting, and then we have to fix the pasture fence for our new goats. Spring is a busy time of year!

Why are there leaves all over? you ask, as we carry a rake and shovel over to the garden bed. To grow good vegetables we need to enrich the soil. Last fall we spread manure and leaves to rot during the winter. Now it is time to turn them into the ground with the shovel, like this! You can help rake the soil smooth. We don’t want any weeds or rocks, you say. I’m making the ground soft for the seeds to grow! That’s right. The vegetables would have a hard time growing if we didn’t get the soil ready first.

At last the garden is all ready. We’ll plant lettuce and beets today. Let’s space the seeds carefully. We don’t want them to be too crowded! I like tomatoes and peppers, you say. We can’t plant those outside yet, but we can get ready for them. The tomatoes grow well when we put banana peels and egg shells in the holes. Peppers like sulfur from matches. Matches? you say. We can save them when we light candles. Good idea! It’s good we are planning ahead, so we will be ready.

Can we go play now? you ask. First we must work on the fence. What would happen if it isn’t ready when the goats come? They will get out! you say. When are you getting them? Tomorrow, so we’d better hurry! Our job is to inspect for holes and gaps. Goats like to climb and push, so look closely!

Oh, no! This part is broken down. Is that Dad driving down the lane? Let’s ask him if we need to buy more fencing. “I’ll get a roll in town,” Dad says. “We’re going to pick up some chicks. Can you get a box ready for them with feed and water dishes? Set up a heat lamp and shredded newspaper, too.” Yes… we can do that. We can finish the fencing later.

We have to get ready for lots of things today, you say. Seeds and goats and chicks, too! Yes, there is a lot to prepare for, especially in the spring. You know, that is just like life. There are many things you must get ready for when you are young. Like being responsible for my chores and learning reading and math? Yes, that’s right. But life is more than work and school. Remember how we had to make the ground soft so the seeds will grow? Jesus wants to be the Gardener in your life and grow good things in your heart. Are you ready to trust and obey Him? Maybe you think reading the Bible and living for God is for adults, but if you wait until you are grown up it might be too late. What if we left the garden soil full of rocks and weeds—or never fixed the fence? We would have problems! you say. Yes, we know that we have to be ready before the goats and chicks come. Jesus has told us that He coming soon. Do you want to be ready for Him?