People Grow Where They Are Loved & Philippians 4:8

People grow where they are loved... I don't know who's quote that is, but it is so true!!  

We have inside of us this seed called love. It grows when it's nurtured, cared for, watered, weeded, given sun and light. Just 

like a plant in your garden or on your patio. Tend to it, take care of it and it will flourish. 

Prune it too harshly, transplant it at the wrong time, give it too much sun and not enough water or too much water and not enough sun, neglect to pluck dead ends off of it, leave it to its own devices, and the plant will suffer. 

We've been spending a lot of time in our garden lately. We've had a glorious spring with very warm temperatures and lots of sun. 

This year we set up veggie patches for the girls. They picked out their own seeds and seed trays. Then we helped them out, showing them how to carefully place the seeds in the trays, label and water each kind and showed them where to place the trays for the right sun/shade mixture to give the seeds the best chance to sprout. 

After doing that, we needed to prepare the ground where the sprouts were to be planted. We picked a sunny spot along the fence at the back of our garden. We dug up the grass that was there, weeded the soil, put a weed barrier down, put in some fresh soil filled with nutrients and surrounded each patch with a small dividing wall. 

When it was time, we looked at the seed trays. Many of the seeds had sprouted and taken off. But some didn't. Instead of worrying about those that didn't, we took the ones that had, and carefully arranged and planted them in the veggie patches. Tallest growing at the back and shortest at the front. 

The girls each had the perfect number of sprouts for each row of their garden! There was no shortage nor was there too many. We concentrated on what had sprouted and what was good. 

What if love looked like that?  

Philippians 4:8 in the New International Version (NIV) says: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Today, bless yourself and those around you by thinking, concentrating on, dwelling on, and meditating on the good. No situation, no circumstance is all bad. There is good in everything, for in everything we grow and learn... And those in themselves are good things.