Have you ever planted a garden? If so, then you know how much work it takes to prepare the soil, fertilize the plants, make sure the weeds are “kept down”, and ultimately WAIT on something to grow. For me, waiting on the garden to produce is THE hardest part of the entire exercise. I generally like to see results sooner rather than later. This is true not only in my gardening, but in my everyday life. 

The process of gardening has some great lessons for us that can be applied to our work with people. In gardening, we have to understand that nothing we do can MAKE the seeds we plant grow. We do not control that process. We can only do the prep work. The seed grows in its own time, and we just tend to it as it grows by keeping the weeds down, fertilizing when necessary, and watching the process unfold.  In our work with people, the same principals apply. We can do all the prep work, provide clients with the tools necessary for growth, but in the end, the client will grow in his/her own time. As helpers though, we can find it very difficult to watch and wait for our work to bear fruit. And, there is always the chance that no matter what we do, the seeds we plant will never grow. However, if we are extravagant in our efforts (doing all we can even if some of our work is rejected), as I believe we are called to be, then we will experience a bountiful harvest in which lives are transformed and recovery is realized for many more people than we even think is possible. So, let’s be extravagant!  Let’s do all we can to make sure that, even though some seeds will not grow no matter what we do, we do not give up on the process! Thanks for all you do every day to prepare your clients for growth.

Blessings,

Stephen P Carr II, MA, MFT
Program Director
Mississippi Case Management Consortium