The other day I mowed the front lawn, and it’s so bumpy that I had a real time getting it cut evenly. I’m hoping to get the pickup going soon, and then I can go to the landfill and bring home some compost to fill in the hollow spots. I could go to a friend’s place out in the country and get all the manure I want for free, but I’m not sure how the smell would go over with the neighbors! Real manure seems to make better fertilizer than any of the substitutes that you can buy in the lawn and garden center in any of the stores, but there is that one drawback. Once when we lived in Rapid City, my brother brought me a load of well- rotted manure for my lawn. The grass grew very well after that, but the odor was a little strong right after we put it on the ground, even with it being composted, and it took a while to get rid of it. No one really complained, but there were a few comments floating around for a while… In writing this, I began to wonder how it would relate to the Christian life—but in the parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew chapter 13, Jesus said that some of the seed fell on good ground and brought forth a great harvest. Good ground would mean rich soil, and rich soil would mean it had been fertilized and well taken care of, so manure does have a place in the Christian life after all! Father, we ask that You would use not only the water of Your Word in hearts where the seed has been planted to help it grow and mature, but also that You would use the fertilizer of the Spirit to bring understanding and make the soil rich for harvest. “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:23 NKJV ©2006 H. M. Stratton All rights reserved. Website: www.pleasantportals.zoomshare.com Email for questions, comments, to subscribe or unsubscribe: mamastrat@myfam.com or mamastrat@hotmail.com