H is for HEDGE

I had been well warned. Advice was coming from every side. Yet I ploughed on regardless. We headed of in a northerly direction, above the lough, where all the people understand Scottish, following vague directions to an even more vague contact that my wife had made. We both had a plan in our head and no amount of persuading was going to deter us. When we eventually reached our journey's end, it just took enough time to bundle the plants into the boot, pay the necessary bill and turn the car around for the long journey home. We were so proud of our purchase. Well over one hundred fragile, feeble, emaciated evergreen saplings sent their aroma in our direction. They could have been Lawson Cypress but hey could equally have been any other variety the ranger had suggested, such was our lack of knowledge. One thing was for sure. They weren't Castlewellan Gold. My father-in-law assured us of that, several times. And we planted them, every single one, in little holes just a few inches apart with a little peat and water, all the way around the edge of our new home. They looked like little lost waifs forming an almost negligible barrier beyond the towering apple trees. At first there didn't seem to be much change and even after a year, they had only grown an inch or two. There were constant suggestions that we had planted the wrong trees, set them too close to each other, that Castlewellan Gold would look so much better, that it would be better to cut our losses before people could actually see the little stems. But we persevered. In the few years that followed, about five or six died, but already there was ample evidence that the majority were not only surviving, but thriving. And in spite of the regular 'discussions' with both dads we stood our ground and so did the trees. It seems strange now but our lack of knowledge probably helped for by planting them close together, as they grew, they began to entwine and form a wonderful hedge. Twenty years later, standing at over eight feet high, thick and broad, they're now in need of a good clipping into shape again. I could have pulled them out at the time but we're now reaping the benefits of patience.

Normally, by this time of the year, the old petrol hedge clippers will have been doing some styling on the other hedges near home. For some reason, it hasn't happened yet and there is good evidence that it needs to be done pretty soon. The other day I noticed a couple of particularly insolent briers infiltrating a couple of Lawson Cypress trees at one corner of the garden. Needless to say I took immediate action with a pair of secateurs but plenty of their family relations are still making it their business to nosey where they are sincerely not wanted. Across the road, such has been their impact around the wooden fence, that they have even had the audacity to make their own hedge. It's an unsightly mess of brambles and briers though they are probably fairly pleased with it, yet their arrogance astounds me for they don't allow anything else to share their patch. Still I'm glad, I didn't cut them down fro to my delight, they have produced a bumper crop of blackberries in the last week that nestled very nicely in the same bed as the apples in my wife's crumble last Sunday. What an absolute treat. I could have cut them out but we're now reaping the benefits of patience.

The field next door was once three fields. Like many farmers seeking progress nowadays, the owner decided that three into one does go and in an impulse they were gone and there is no doubt that the one large field is much easier to manoeuvre modern machinery around than the original set. Yet in the process, two mature hedges met their premature end and with it the habitats of hundreds of little creatures, some big some not so big. With the removal, he gained a few extra inches of ground for grass but took away the shelter that even his own cattle enjoyed. Now the wind whistles across the field in a both directions, on a winter day, when formerly it stopped for a couple of rests along the way. It's our field now, but I remember it as it was. He could have left the hedges but now we're reaping the results of his impatience.

The Bible speaks much about the value of patience. Paul tells us to 'be patient, bearing with one another in love,' because 'love is patient'. We are to be 'patient in affliction' and to 'be patient, waiting for the Lord's coming.' But sometimes it's hard to be just that, when we see things that we want to change. Sometimes we're impatient with young believers who are still only saplings in the faith. Often we're impatient with our children as we wait for them to follow the faith of their parents, yet when we meddle, we seldom make the situation better. Yet God is constantly showing His patience towards us as Peter reminds us, 'He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.' For He knows what we don't know, He sees what's going to happen and the blessings that are waiting. So rather than being impatient let's pray, even if the God who created the hedge for homes, for shelter and for food asks us to wait a little longer. And remember, 'After waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised!'