What You Sow Is What You Will Reap

to my dear gardener friend, Edita

How the story began

I was sitting on a train one Monday, eating those last blueberries she had left behind. During that nine-hour trip, I had a lot of time to reflect on what had been happening during the last few days.

Just yesterday, in the night from Saturday to Sunday, my dear friend had passed away. I had known her really for a couple of days only, but even in this short time, she had grown close to my heart.

She had been suffering from cancer for a year and a half already, but her joy of living had remained undiminished. Still making plans for the future in her mind, she was travelling in Germany, when suddenly, she fell very sick again.

As “chance” would have it (I don’t believe in chance!), she was taken to a hospital in the city where I lived, just minutes away from my flat. I had encountered this woman only briefly some years ago in our shared home-country, Croatia. When I found out that she was in town lying in the hospital, I quickly made up my mind to go and visit her.

A unexpected encounter

Slightly nervous at entering the hospital building, I was prepared for anything but what was awaiting me in her room. She was sitting in bed, all thin and grey-haired at her age of 51, talking to a friend on the phone.

Even though I didn’t know exactly what the conversation was about, I remember her words were so cheerful, encouraging and concerned for her friend’s problems.

When she finished her conversation, she looked at me with a bright smile on her face. She inquired, with genuine interest, about me and my family. I hardly managed to ask her how she was doing, as she continued to tell me about a young nurse she had already made friends with during her stay there.

As it turned out, her condition was anything but reassuring: having already gone through chemotherapy, there was not much the doctors could do for her anymore. The spreading tumour was pressing onto her stomach, giving her heavy pain and nausea. In fact, she was being intravenously fed and couldn’t eat normal food anymore. Nothing but – blueberries.

Light, beautiful in colour, not too sweet, but of delicate taste, they suited her needs so perfectly as nothing else could. She delighted in them as I brought some to her in the hospital, commenting gratefully “Didn’t God create them in a marvelous way?”.

Life stories

In the days that followed, I frequently went to visit her, armed with blueberries and herbal tea. While she was still in a reasonably good condition, she told me a little bit about her life, and I told her about mine. She told the story of when she was a young student of 25 in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

On one occasion, she had the opportunity to hear and understand for the first time how God wanted to establish a relationship with all people through his son Jesus.

Embracing that truth for which she had been thirsting for many years, and deciding to follow this fascinating Jesus, deeply changed her life. From her words and gestures, from her smile and affection for her family and people around her, from the stories that others told me about her, I could read her commitment to this loving God.

It was so visible in her life and the lives of those whom she encountered!

When I told her about my small gardening projects, she described her own garden at her home to me. A laurel tree seemed to be the only thing growing there. Aware that this garden actually held much more potential, she admitted being a poor gardener, quite regretfully.

Whispers of grace

As her condition deteriorated rapidly over the next few days, I and two friends took turns in staying at her side. We did so until the arrival of her family, who came for one last farewell. She was often in unbearable pain and, despite not eating anything but a few blueberries a day, she was constantly nauseous.

Many times, there seemed to be nothing we could do for her but to pray. I remember some of the prayers she spoke in her agony: “Father, Your will be done”, “Have mercy, Lord”, “Glory to You, my God”. And our every departure from her room was accompanied by a genuine whisper: “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!”.

In a place where others might have despaired or cursed God, lamented or retreated into bitterness, my friend showed gratitude for even the smallest acts of kindness. She kept a positive attitude in spite of being trapped in a hospital far away from home. She continued to care about others in spite of her own suffering.

That true gardener

Suddenly, I realized how this attitude was not merely a product of chance (as I said, there is no such thing as “chance”).

On the contrary, her character was a result of a life lived making many good decisions.

The truths to which she had held so dearly had formed her character. They had soaked into her way of thinking, in good days and in bad ones.

Ultimately, this had shaped her every encounter with others and has brought blessings upon the lives of many people, including me – even on those final days of her life. In the words of her husband, she had “left traces of Jesus in the lives of many”.

When I saw her the next day, I told her: “You claimed to be a bad gardener. I think you were wrong. You have sown so many good seeds in your life and in that of others!”

The principle from the Bible proved to be true before my very eyes – that whatever you sow, you will reap.

When you sow thankfulness, you will reap a life of gladness and joy.

When you sow trust and patience, you will reap good relationships.

Where could this be more visible than in the darkest moments in life, or when we are old and sick? Some things my friend had been praying for during the last 20 years had finally come true in the lives of some friends, just in the last weeks of her life.

This, as well, were some of the seeds she had been sowing!

At last, my dear gardener friend was granted her final wish: all of her five children, her husband, mother and siblings came to see her one last time.

She was unbelievably well that day, spending it in laughter, singing and talking with her dearest ones. Surrounded by her family and in complete peace, I recall her singing, just before my own farewell from her, the beautiful song:

“Power of your love”

Lord, I come to You, let my heart be changed, renewed
Flowing from the grace that I found in You
Lord, I’ve come to know the weaknesses I see in me
Will be stripped away by the power of Your love

Hold me close, let Your love surround me
Bring me near, draw me to Your side
And as I wait, I’ll rise up like the eagle
And I will soar with You, your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love

Lord, unveil my eyes
Let me see You face to face…

And so, she does now.

Only three days later, she joined her heavenly Father in a place where there are no tears, no pain, no sorrow anymore. Even though she undoubtedly will be missed by her dear ones, there is an unexplainable joy in her death.

It was a departure from a life well-lived. One of sowing many seeds that will remain and grow on. One of treasures that will never cease to be. One of the best choice there is to make: to put one’s trust in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

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