mint

My great-grandma Bessie Mae hated mint. As an award-winning gardener, she would always turn up her nose and say its name in the most disgusted tone she could muster. To her, it was as good as any other common weed in her otherwise pristine landscape. But I disagree.

I found a sprig of mint sprouting up from under my backyard fence a few months ago and got kind of excited. Mama likes a good mojito every now and then, so I pulled it up and plopped it in a glass of water to take root. Root it did, and after a month or so, I planted it in a small pot on my front porch. But it grew so quickly, I decided to move it to one of my larger empty pots on the side of the house where the Texas sun is extremely brutal most of the year (hence the empty pot), and sort of forgot about it. Even with the hot sun and very little water, the mint plant grew. And not just grew, it thrived. In a few short months, my little sprig had filled up an entire planter and was spilling over the side. And it smelled delicious! As I snipped a few branches and brought them in the kitchen, I felt a bit like Forrest Gump with all my mint. Mint water. Mint lemonade. Mint mojitos. Mint tea. Mint chocolate chip ice cream!

I peeled the leaves and crushed them to release their aroma and flavor. While I worked, the journey of my wayward little sprig ran through my mind. How remarkable that something so small and seemingly insignificant could become so big and produce so much goodness.

 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

Perseverance. That is it. My little mint plant never gave up. He took the water from the cup and the soil from the small pot and used every bit of it to grow bigger, and stronger, and healthier. These were not ideal conditions. Some days, there was no sun and on others, enough to fry an egg on the pavement. No real water for days and then a week straight of rain and gloomy skies.  The little mint plant that could just…did.

No excuses. No reasons. No “if only’s” or “maybe when’s.” It made the most of every day, every condition, and used it to grow.

I can assume if you are a human reading this, then the conditions of your life aren’t ideal as well. Some days feel dry and empty while others feel too big and heavy to carry. It seems life over the past few years has just gotten faster and more chaotic even in the midst of trying to slow it all down. It just keeps coming and there is no end in sight. It is easy to become weary and want to give up. I want to give up. I want to quit trying to grow, to change, to move into the bigger pot God is trying to plant me in. But staying little is a recipe for certain death of our soul. God has put in each of us a desire for His plans and purposes which requires perseverance and a constant dependence on Him.

The struggle is real. To get up every day and make the most of our daily bread isn’t easy or glamorous or applauded. It doesn’t instantaneously produce sales or followers or whatever end result we might be chasing. But it does produce perseverance and perseverance pays dividends. It builds in us a fight to keep going until we reach the proper time. It gives God the space to accomplish in us what He needs to in order to then accomplish through us the harvest He has in mind. A harvest of people. A harvest of ideas. A harvest of provision that brings blessing to all it touches.

It feels like God loves to take the smallest, seemingly insignificant seed and turn it into something no one ever saw coming. Like my little sprig that popped up under my fence one spring afternoon, something that began as a tiny beginning plucked from the place it intended to stay chose to make the very best of where it landed next and grew into something that provided for us and those around us. Just last night, I got a text from my neighbor telling me she was sending her tiny over to grab some mint for a smoothie.

I don’t think the fight is just about us. Yes, it develops and purifies our character, but it seems to always produce fruit that then feeds those around us. Those are the thoughts that run through my mind as I water my mint plant on these scorching summer days. “Don’t give up,” I whisper. “We need you.”

And to you, I say the same.