House Beautiful

Joy and Challenge of Summer Days

By Helen Jesze, 7^th July 2023

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

Genesis 1:31a NIV

It hadn’t been there when I came before in April. I looked with delight at the candy- striped geraniums, the mass of flowers interspaced with natural white stones, neatly protected by a criss-cross wooden fence – a splash of colour in the old flagged yard, surrounded on three sides by shabby houses and on the other, the Gypsy church. Once again I was amazed at the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which can transform wife-beaters and drunkards – as so many of the Gypsies or ‘travellers’ had been – into people who were learning to live a new life, to build up and make a home, instead of living in squalor and chaos, to become creative, take pride in what they do and make the church yard beautiful, for this was God’s House!

This had been in Debrecen, Hungary, where I was with a group of leaders and pastors from East and West at a meeting of Eastern European Outreach Intl. After two intense days of planning and sharing, there was the wild dash of three hours to the Budapest airport in broiling heat, hanging on as the driver dodged accidents, road-works and traffic-jams, to the despair of the driver in the car following! Back at EEO’s Dutch office near Rotterdam, we stayed in the apartment above the office, working on UK and international administration.

It had all been very satisfying but tiring, and after preaching in a Nigerian church in The Hague on Sunday, we were glad to relax with a choc ice in front of the TV.

Suddenly we were transported to England, again to a garden, but this time to some magnificent ones, for the programme Songs of Praise was just on, coming that Sunday from the Castle Garden of Lady Fitz Walter in Kent. The large choir standing on the lawn brought us joy with their marvellous singing, while through the eye of the camera we wandered from a wave of bluebells under the trees to beds of blue delphiniums and scabius, the reds, yellows and orange of the cottage garden and where ox-eyed daisies waved in tall grass. There were glimpses of a stone cat and a statue peeping through foliage, a grey tower majestic in the distance cameoed by box hedges; purple clematis dripped down the sides of the mellow old house, while the clean lines of the severely cut hedges had a beauty of their own.

A lady told how she had opened her substantial garden to the public, inviting individuals or small groups to the garden for a time of peace and tranquility, to meditate and find themseves again, to take stock in the headlong rush of busy, modern life. Lines from a time-honoured poem were quoted:

“You’re nearer God’s heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth…”

Of course, we know the very first person to plant a garden was God himself (Genesis 2:8), and it does seem that healing and wholeness steal into our hearts as we wander round or sit in a well kept garden.

It’s high Summer and this is the time when flowers burst forth but also the weeds, and they have to be dealt with! Our lives too, are filled with the contrasts of beauty and quietness on the one hand, and the challenge and hectic demands of our schedule on the other. Jesus said to his disciples that they should come apart and rest awhile, for sometimes they did not even have time to eat. The crowds were so eager to see and hear him, so desperate to receive healing that they thronged him, sometimes for days on end.

It is a trap we can easily fall into — I have done it too — that when ministering to people and seeing the enormous needs, we overstretch ourselves, becoming “burnt- out” or having a nervous breakdown, trying to help. We need to find the balance of work and play, ministry and relaxation, learning when to say “Yes” or “No” if asked to take on yet another task, asking the Lord for his guidance about it first.

So dear Friends, I wish you another wonderful Summer week, on holiday or at home, sometimes sitting in your garden or off to ministry taking Christian Summer Camps, perhaps going on missionary journeys to preach or take relief goods to those in need abroad. As we experience the joy and challenge of Summer days, let’s hold fast to our Jesus, who is with us in the good times and also there when it seems as though the rug has been pulled out from under our feet – he will uphold us with his strong right arm, and bring us through every storm! I pray strength for every task and peace to you, from Jesus, our great Prince of Peace!