The Miracle of Compost

And we know that all things work together for good

to them that love God, to them who are called

according to His purpose.
-Romans 8:28

Don't you just love that you took the time to visit today, only to be greeted with a shot of my garden compost bin? [Laughing] Sorry. Pull up a chair and visit with me for a minute and I'll explain.

Sadly enough, I am completely enamored with the concept of composting. I've actually read articles and studied formulas on how to make the perfect organic compost to feed growing plants. All my kitchen scraps: vegetable peels, egg shells, onion and garlic skins, coffee and tea grounds, rotting fruit, slimy herbs... all these things daily make their way into my bin in the backyard. Every few days, I carefully add carbon-based material, water appropriately, and walk away. Then within several weeks, bingo! Crumbly, nutrient-rich garden gold is waiting for me, and my formerly disgusting and detestable stuff has been transformed into nurturing, beneficial material for growing and struggling things.

I think it's the coolest thing ever.

Anyway, I stumbled out to the compost bin this morning to add another little pile of scary, already-sprouting things from the fridge, and was struck with the thought that: wow, my life as a God-fearing gal works a lot like this compost bin.

(True, I am coming down with something terrible. I have chills and aches and a head that's about to fall off, but still, I don't think I've lost it. Yet. Hear me out.)

Yeah, I think my life is similar to a compost bin for this reason: no matter what sort of gross, scary, or downright wrong things I turn up with - stinky attitudes, rotten actions - sin and such - I have a wise and patient God who takes my life, scary things and all, combines it with His grace, love, and purpose, and transforms it into something He can use.

The Bible says that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. And here's the thing. If you're reading this now, that can apply to you. See, I know so many people who think they are too old... too bad... too clueless... or too late... to meet God. They figure there's too much in their past, or not enough in their present, to be attractive or desirable to God. But here's the thing: God is like a master composter. All you have to do is supply the material... no matter how old, disgusting, or detestable it is, and He can transform it into a nurturing, beneficial life.

I speak from experience. I'm coming at you as someone who's gone to God... even as a Christian... with more rotten and slimy stuff than you can imagine. (Failure. Sin. Divorce, etc.) And yet I rejoice... every day... when I see how He has taken (and continues to take!) that stuff and use it for something good in my life and the lives of people around me.

Yeah, I think composting may be the coolest thing ever. Whether we're talking about kitchen scraps or life scraps, it can all become so much more in the hands of Someone else. Someone who wrote the Book on how all things can work together for good. So if you've never considered it, maybe you should give composting ... and God... a go....

I mean, what do we have to lose besides scraps of used, dying things anyway?