The video above shows a man cultivating his garden with an old John Deere B tractor. My dad used to have one when I was a kid. He called it a “puttin’ John because it sounds like it saying “putt, putt, putt, putt, putt”. I love that sound.
Cultivate. That word showed up one day while I was doing my quiet time. It showed up for a quite a while actually. I decided to sit down and get to know it better. This was during my recovery period in life. I was seeking God during this time. Some would call it a valley experience. Some would call it a desert experience. Others might call it a lost in the forest experience. Whatever you want to call it, I’m actually thankful for it. God and I were SO close during that time. I learned so much.
Ok, so the word was Cultivate. So, I started digging (LOL). What exactly does it mean? How does that relate to my life? To God? Man I love to deep dive with God when he has placed something on my heart.
I looked up the definition of cultivate and here is what I found. It means: 1.) to PREPARE and use land for crops or gardening 2.) to acquire or develop a quality, sentiment, or skill 3.) to put through a finishing process. WHOA! I’m going to need to put on m boots for this journey! The word PREPARE had also popped out at me earlier in my studies that year. I wondered at that time what God was PREPARING me for? I was excited! What wonderful thing could be awaiting me. Then, I thought, what if it’s another tragedy? Maybe he’s preparing me for something terrible. He didn’t prepare me for mom’s fatal accident though. I wasn’t really seeking Him then either. Yikes.
I tossed the good and the bad thoughts and went back to searching for meaning.
So, it means to prepare. Alright. What is the purpose of cultivating? Cultivating improves the soils physical conditions, allow improved root growth and tree anchorage, to improve root access to soil nutrients and moisture. Cultivating breaks up the soil surface, allowing easier penetration of air, nutrients and water deep into soil where plant roots can access them.
Aha! I’m beginning to put the pieces together.
