A wise marriage counselor once said to compare the seed of faith in Alma 32 to the seed of love. When we’ve been hurt by a past relationship, it may be difficult to try again. This illustrates how love can grow: “. . . exercise a particle of [love], yea, even if ye can no more desire to [love], let this desire work in you, even until ye believe. . . . Now, we will compare [a potential relationship] unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that it may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your [fear], that ye will resist. . . ye will begin to say within yourselves—it must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the [relationship] is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my [life], yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.”
Our ward had a garden this year. As I recently enjoyed harvesting the bountiful assortment of fresh fruits and veggies, I received several flashes of inspiration regarding dating and how perfectly it parallels gardening. I was searching for tomatoes amongst tall, thick green vines, and thought: “looking for the red, juicy, delicious stuff amongst all that green is quite a search—much how I remember dating when I was looking for Jeff.” As I continued on to other garden veggies, I noticed the variety of effort it took to harvest. Sometimes the harvesting is easy (like snipping a pumpkin off its vine on the ground) and sometimes we really have to dig deep (for potatoes or carrots) to heal what needs to be healed so we are healthy for a relationship and search with diligent effort until we find the person who is most delicious to us.
As I’ve pondered this, I believe that each of us has a unique path to our partner and God is there to guide us to him or her, just as our kind and generous ward gardeners guided me to the fresh food that was ready for harvesting. All we need to do is show up in whatever capacity is required to take that journey and we can know what is required through personal revelation. By being open to the Spirit, we can show up with whatever level of effort our individual path requires.
Nurturing seeds of love, like gardening, require consistent effort to eventually reap the reward of what we plant. Patience and perseverance are part of this process. Remember, it is always a good time to sow the seeds of more love in your life! “Love begets love. If you show it, you will feel it. If you give it, you will receive it.” ~Elizabeth Bourgeret
In our podcast this week, we explore lessons about dating and relationships from sowing, nurturing, and harvesting a garden. Enjoy be clicking on the link below!
LILY Pod 32: Dating is Like Gardening
