by David E Bay, High Councilor

My sweetheart Coleen has a vision for what is important to create a beautiful home and yard. During our recent Preparedness and Self-Reliance Fair, she spent much of her time learning more about how to better grow her garden and maintain our yard.
When we purchased our home in 1993 the yard did not look like what Coleen wanted it to look like. Little by little we have worked and changed it to better meet her vision. My efforts have been primarily to provide some of the brute force that has been required because so far, I do not have the vision to see the final result that Coleen does.
I learned some great lessons from watching her. First of all, she knows what she wants as a final result. Then she takes the plants she wants and puts them in the locations where she wants them to grow. She gives them an environment where they can thrive and grow. Then she determines what doesn’t work and removes it from from that place. If it’s not possible to remove it she will change the conditions so that it is an environment where it will not grow or thrive.
The selection of whether an item is desired or not desired is often based on the location. Flowers are good in the flower bed, but not in the lawn. Also, grass is perfect when growing in the lawn but bad in the flower bed.
I concluded the way Coleen cares for our yard is a pattern for how we can all work on caring for those people and even the tasks in our lives. If someone or something is important to us, we create conditions to allow the relationship to grow. However, just like in a yard or garden, we do not control everything in the environment. Sometimes relationships don’t progress the way that we desire. Skills that we want to develop do not come easily. I know that I botch many things that I try to do.
Elder Wirthlin gave us a good point of reference to work with when he shared his final testimony. “The simple secret is this: put your trust in the Lord, do your best, then leave the rest to Him.”