God's Perfect Recipes

I garden much like I cook. I look at advice or recipes, then loosely follow them, but largely just go my own route and cross my fingers for good results. I’ve been cooking now for years, and I look back at earlier attempts when Dalton and I were first married and cringe at the choices I made (and what I made Dalton eat). Now, I’m really confident in my cooking, and — dare I say it — I’m a good cook. 

​Someday I’m hoping to say the same about gardening, but 

Jenny Shotwell

I’m not there yet. In Tacoma, we purchased a home in 2014 that had once been owned by a master gardener who hosted the neighborhood garden parties. Sadly, the home turned into a rental for many years, and only the shell of the garden remained. Dalton and I were proud of what we were able to bring back to that garden before we moved. I learned a lot in that yard, and I like to think it was grateful that we uncovered it again. 
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Fast forward to our move to Coeur d’Alene when we purchased a home in Dalton Gardens. This home is similar - clearly loved in the past, but after a long rental history, the house and garden were in complete disarray. In fact, one of the first purchases that arrived at our new home was a riding lawnmower. We later learned that our neighbors across the street secretly celebrated to learn that this yard was finally going to be mowed!

Every year in spring, I await the return of my perennials. I cross my fingers and sometimes stand over them and talk to them about how they really need to come back to life (this is not always successful). Ask Dalton. It makes me pretty mad (or it makes me feel like a failure). 

This past fall I decided to finally plant some bulbs throughout our garden. I’m not sure why, but this is not something I have ever done. I planted many different kinds, but the dominant choice was daffodils. As many of you know, the daffodils have recently come out to say hello, and as I type these words, I am staring at a whole planter box of daffodils in my front yard! They make me so happy! 

Yes, they are pretty, and they are happy, and they make our yard look cheerful and welcoming. However, the thing that makes me the most happy is that — it worked! I planted them. They did their magic below the surface, and they showed up for spring! It’s like magic. This new life. The recipe was easy to follow, and the results were successful. 

In spring, we see new life everywhere. New flowers, green grass, baby birds hopping around the yard, beautiful speckled fawns learning how to stand on shaky legs (and how to feast on our gardens …). New life always comes, and it’s always amazing and magical. And there’s something particularly magical and humbling about a new life you had a hand in. 

It must be no coincidence that we celebrate our mothers during spring — a time when new life is everywhere, when the perfection of God’s many recipes is on full display. 

As a mother myself, I am constantly in wonder and awe over my two children — these beautiful blessings that Dalton and I have received in these two amazing humans. It’s truly a humbling experience to watch your children grow up and become who God has intended them to be. He knew who they were before we did. We just get the joy of discovering them every day and year after year. 

It reminds me of the well-known verse from Psalm 139:13-14:
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“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
​Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
​Your workmanship is marvelous — and how well I know it.” 
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The rewards are plenty in becoming a gardener (or at least pretending to be one). This year, I am amazed at how these small little brown balls turned into beautiful daffodils! I understand that the recipe is relatively simple — I see them all over town. But seeing them grow in my own garden is even more beautiful to me. 

As we celebrate Mother’s Day, these simple flowers in my garden remind me of the beauty and perfection of God’s creation and, in turn, the deep love and amazement I have for my children every day — the most perfect of God’s recipes!

In His Name, Jenny