A wise woman knows that there is more than one way to trample her garden.  One of the more tempting ways to scorch garden flowers is to fill a need that is not yours to fill.  You can almost watch yourself prepare to flatten tall vines and blossoms.  You can almost see yourself begin to clip away at blooming buds.  In the names of grateful, accommodating, agreeable, encouraging and hospitable, you will do a lot for the “needy.”  You swing back your satchel of good things and get ready to deliver.  You are rearing to save . . . apart from the fact that the “needy” haven’t asked and your internal wisdom has already told you the timing is not right.

This is the sure way to give your garden a lawn job.  With your many gifts and talents, it is grueling to withhold passing on a treasure from your hard-earned collection.  You have weathered storms and gathered wisdom – – for the purpose of sharing and passing along.  It is challenging to hold back your arsenal of love from an opportunity even if it is not yours.  You can’t help to think that you can help.

A wise woman sees past her momentary need to give or help.  She gathers her sense of purpose and panoramic perspective.  She thinks back to the years she built her garden.  The pattern, sort and style of the rows and planters.  She sees the intersections of relationships and the timeliness of the happenings of her life.  The foundation of her garden and its gates center upon her very specific path and purpose.  Stepping off the already intricate, complex and full path to fill a need or gap that is not yours to fill is counterproductive.  The fact of the matter is that this is one sure way to trample your garden.

A wise woman knows the aftermath of a trampled garden.  She knows because she has been there at least a few times before.  Flatten some of your flowers while running off track.  Muddy up your shoes, trip and skin your elbow.  Show up late because it wasn’t your route.  Deliver the wrong flowers because they were supposed to be from someone else’s garden.  Awkward moment since the gift was meant to be delivered by someone else.  The bottom line is that you depleted your stock for a cause that was not yours and for a need that surely won’t be perfected by your gift.  Trampled garden, trampled cause.  This section of your garden is now a mess.  And now it’s clean up time.

A wise woman knows that she can help but waits for the opportune person, place and time.  Agreeable, encouraging and hospitable have remarkable worth when nurtured in a garden with a gate managed by a wise keeper.  It is challenging to hold back an arsenal of gifts.  It is challenging to desire to see someone blessed.  But she waits.  Her path and her purpose are tried and true.  She waits.  For her wisdom has grown her to be as set apart as her attractive garden.