Companion Planting

Companion planting is a gardening method of pairing plants which grow well, even thrive, when planted side by side. Because of, or perhaps in spite of, each plant's own individually inherent qualities, soil conditions, climate, and every gardener with even an occasional hand at tending the plants, the plants grow better together than they ever would by themselves.

A couple months ago I sought comfort and strength in a Priesthood blessing. During that blessing I was told that I have "recently experienced a number of changes" in my life (this was certainly true) and there are "many more to come". I thought the promise interesting and a bit surprising, but at the time was more focused on the counsel and comfort I'd sought in the first place.

Heavenly Father has plans for us which far exceed our expectations or (what we think are) our desires. A friendship which had already blossomed into a romance blossomed further, and rather quickly; heartfelt prayer brought some pretty surprising answers. Abject terror gave way to gleeful anticipation as I questioned how ready I really was for this new garden.

I have never been a husband. I have never been a stepfather. Now I find myself both. Less than two weeks later we find ourselves reeling a bit. We had a sixteen day engagement. Yeah, we know. Pretty quick. Call us a couple of crazy middle-aged kids.

I look into my sweetheart's eyes, see there and hear in her voice trust and belief, and I wonder at the doubts which seem so terribly long ago. We talk about the events which led her into my life, and me into hers, and we see far too many coincidences to discount a Master Gardener plotting this. Oh what gratitude we have for Him! And what gratitude we have for all those who helped nourish us along the way, in whose faces we see joy on our behalf.

We have already felt our hearts expand far beyond what seems feasible for such a short time. As in gardens of vegetables and flowers, we are finding stones and noxious weeds. Some of those we saw when our friendship was new, others were dormant at the time and are just starting to peek above the ground. We anticipate more. We recognize their potential to choke us but we decided early on these things are not going to develop deep roots. We recognize that only together, as companions, can we recognize our full potential. Daily we're consulting with the Master Gardener, exploring and discovering what we each bring to the garden complements the other's talents and dreams; learning how to prompt and promote one another's continued growth.

It's going to be an amazing, beautiful garden.