A Bit of Earth

Three or four weeks ago, Anna came to me.   "Dad," she said.  "Could I... could I have a little garden spot of my own?"

I could tell that she had been crying.  "Why were you crying, Anna?"  I asked.

"Because I didn't think you'd let me have one," she said.

"Of course I will," I told her.  "Now, I am just trying to think about what spot to till up."

Elaine said that it reminded her of the chapter in the book "The Secret Garden," where Mary Lennox asks her uncle for a bit of earth.

For those not familiar with The Secret Garden, it is about an orphan, named Mary Lennox, who moves to England to be under the care of her uncle.  He is seemingly uninterested in her and her life.  When she finally meets with him, he seems distracted and at the end of their conversation, he asks Mary if there is anything he can get for her.  It is then, that she asks him for "a bit of earth," where she can plant some seeds and watch things grow.

Anna's request reminds me more of a passage from Matthew 7: 7-11 (ESV)

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  Or which one of you , if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?"

The passage compares our heavenly Father to fathers here on earth.  In this passage, there is a truth, a promise, and a command.  The truth is that our Father in heaven loves to give us good things.  The promise in the passage, is that He will do so, if we but fulfill the command:  to ask, seek and knock.

I am not a perfect dad, but it did not take me long to till up a little garden for Anna.  Together we picked out and planted some seeds -- green beans, pumpkins and watermelons and planted them in her special spot.  We also found a nice cherry tomato plant to put in one corner.  Just a perfect garden for a six year old.

As I knelt that night before my Father's throne, I knew that He was listening to me, ready to meet my needs, and even some of my wants.  Just as I had loved to spend time and give my daughter a little bit of earth.