By Doug Creamer

How is your garden doing? I went out the other day and checked on my potatoes. I have never learned the proper time to dig potatoes. I wait until the plants have died back and it doesn’t look like there will be any more growth. My timing can’t be all wrong. I got one of the best potato harvests I’ve had in several years.

We’ve had several meals of green beans and butter beans. We got a few ears of corn, but the squirrels have really enjoyed them. We enjoyed some squash, until one night the deer noticed that I had forgotten to close the gate and they ate the squash leaves. I didn’t know deer would eat squash plants. We’ve been enjoying tomatoes for the last couple of weeks. I have a few watermelons and cantaloupes coming along, and I discovered the turtle in that part of the garden the other day. He was just checking to see if they were ready.

It’s time to get things replanted if I want to get a fall harvest. I need to clean out where things are done. I have the seeds already, I just have to pick an afternoon and go for it. I don’t think I am going to grow the squirrels any more corn. I am definitely going to plant more beans. I have sunflower seeds. It’s too early for broccoli, but I might try some more squash. Whatever I decide, I better get busy or I am going to run out of time.

We are at about the midpoint of summer. We are facing the hottest few weeks ahead. It is hard to keep the garden watered in these hot, dry times. Soon gardeners will be facing tropical storms and their remnants. There are always challenges, between the weather, garden pests, bugs and diseases. Then you will face frosts. No matter what the conditions, I am still going to fight to grow things in my garden.

The thought that runs around in my head is that I don’t want to run out of time. I have to get out in that garden sooner versus later or I will run out of time. Time is an element in all of our lives. My pastor has been teaching us about eternity. He tried to talk to us about forever the other day, but that is a concept that none of us understands. Our whole lives have been related to time. We are going to be with Jesus forever. We can’t understand forever, but we will experience it.

I am looking forward to whatever heaven will be, but I still have more gardening and writing that I want to do while I am here. The more I think about it, there are lots of things that I still want to do, including traveling and spending more time with family and friends.

With the pastor talking about eternity and what heaven and hell are going to be like, I feel a stirring in my spirit that I want to make sure everyone I know and meet will find their way to heaven. I don’t want anyone to be separated from God’s love, and that is a very biblical thing because God feels the same way. He wants everyone to come home to heaven, but he leaves that decision in each individual’s hands.

Our eternal destination is our choice. The invitation has been sent to every heart. If we discard it or ignore it, then we have made our choice. The doors are open while you have breath in your body to accept Jesus as your savior or to walk away from an eternity with him. I hope that everyone whose eyes fall upon these words will make their choice to be forever with our savior in heaven. You don’t need to understand everything or have every question answered, you just need to trust him and make your decision sooner rather than later.

I can assure you that God wants you to be with him in heaven. So I encourage you to make that decision now before it is too late. I know some people who believe that Jesus is coming back in our lifetime. The Bible tells us that no one knows the day or the hour of his return except God himself, and he hasn’t even told Jesus. But the Bible also tells us that we can know the signs of his coming. Some signs are pointing in that direction. Our personal clocks are ticking and biblical prophesies are suggesting that the end could be close. Make your decision soon. I want to see you in eternity.

Doug Creamer has a new book at Amazon: EncouragingU: Summer Stories. Contact him at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041 or doug@dougcreamer.com.