06/08/2026
Sometimes my church looks like this—a basket full of fruit, a carton full of eggs, and dirt under my nails.
But I’ll tell you, God and I have some pretty meaningful conversations in the garden on a Sunday. Today was one of those days.
While harvesting today, I realized how much joy there is in seeing fruit on the vine and knowing it’s finally ready. There is a simple kind of satisfaction that comes to a gardener who has cared for and tended those plants from the moment they were placed in the soil.
As I stood there smiling, I couldn’t help but think this must be how God sees us.
The hours spent pulling weeds. The effort spent warding off pesky squash bugs—the enemies of our zucchini and squash plants. Knowing full well that if they aren’t dealt with, the harvest will be less than plentiful, and the joy of it will be diminished too.
It reminds me of being a mom. There are so many hours poured into helping our children become everything we know they can become. The weeding and pest control can be difficult in the midst of their growth, but what do we do? We continue to care, to show up, and to invest for the sake of what we hope to see in time—the fruit.
Lately, He’s been teaching me that growing something from the ground up is hard work. And the more we plant—while incredibly exciting—the more weeding, pest control, and challenges there are to tend to.
Years ago, I remember Him impressing something so simple on my heart:
“That which you water grows. That which you don’t, dies.”
He wasn’t wrong.
That message has stayed with me, and it’s one I find myself repeating often as a reminder to keep investing in the things that matter most.
And so we continue to water The Broody Hen, and as we do, we are watching growth happen.
But growth doesn’t come without struggle.
In fact, before a seed can grow, it must first break open as it pushes through the soil and reaches toward the light. In those early stages, it depends on both its environment and its caretaker to provide what it needs to grow and flourish.
In many ways, The Broody Hen is still a seedling.
It’s growing. It’s stretching. It’s beginning to become what it was designed to be. But in these early years, it still depends on people who believe in the vision and are willing to help nurture it along the way.
So we continue to show up. We tend it. We fertilize it. We invest in it. And when the work becomes bigger than we can manage alone, we ask for help.
As The Broody Hen continues to grow, I’m becoming increasingly aware that growth doesn’t come without struggle. But maybe that struggle serves a purpose. Maybe it’s the tension that reminds us we weren’t meant to do this work alone. We were meant to do it in community.
And that’s another lesson gardening continues to teach me.
All that to say, the harvest is growing. The opportunities are growing. The impact is growing. And it’s all incredibly exciting.
But with growth comes more ground to tend.
More weeds to pull.
More projects to tackle.
More hands needed in the field.
Some of our current needs include:
🌱 Volunteers for morning and evening chores (great for students needing volunteer hours)
🌱 Help tackling the weeds around our blackberry bushes 😬
🌱 Building one or two three-sided goat shelters in our paddocks
🌱 Someone with a tiller who can help work 10 loads of aged manure into our back field so we can continue improving our clay soil
Ultimately, we need people willing to step forward and say, “I’m here. Put me in, Coach.”
If any of those opportunities sound like something you’d enjoy or simply want to help on, we’d love to hear from you.
After all, the harvest is plentiful—and there’s still so much good work to be done. ❤️
