As a mom, I often feel the pull between wanting to freeze time to hold onto the sweet, fleeting childhood moments and knowing I need to loosen my grip and let my children grow. There are some days when their unique personalities challenge me, one child with big emotions and a fierce sense of independence, and the other with strong curiosity and passionate interests. Some days, it can feel overwhelming, and I catch myself counting the hours until bedtime, while other days I want time to stop and to keep them little and close to me forever. 

One morning, during my quiet time with the Lord, while I was praying about my children, I felt God speak these words to me: “You can’t stop your children from growing—they are like flowers—but you can water them and nurture them as they grow. You have a choice: to water them and let them grow or smother them and let them wither. Only I can see what will happen from beginning to end.”

This got me thinking: motherhood is a lot like tending a garden. As moms, we are entrusted with the sacred role of nurturing our children as they grow. We plant seeds of faith, love, and character in their hearts, water them with prayer, guidance, and encouragement, and carefully prune them with wisdom, correction, and love. However, the beauty of this kind of gardening is that it is a partnership. While I am planting, watering, and pruning, I know that God is walking alongside me. He is the Master Gardener, the one who sees the whole picture from seed to bloom.

It is tempting to want to control every part of our children’s growth— to prevent mistakes, shield them from struggles, and ensure they grow exactly as we imagine. The truth is, I don’t have that kind of power, none of us do. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 reminds us, “I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.” Our role as moms is to be faithful in watering and nurturing our children while trusting God to bring about their full bloom in His time and His way.

Pruning is probably one of the hardest parts of both gardening and motherhood. It’s the job no one wants to do, removing something that’s been a part of them, but having to decide to cut away what was preventing them from growing. Pruning flowers isn’t easy; it is a tedious task that takes patience. You have to be careful, knowing what to cut away without damaging what’s growing. If we don’t do it, the flowers won’t have the space to grow and bloom. It isn’t easy to set boundaries with our children, to tell them no, or to discipline them with love, but it’s required for their development. We have to remind ourselves as moms that we aren’t cutting away the good parts of our children, but we are shaping, guiding, and sometimes removing things from their lives that could hinder their growth. Pruning is necessary for both a flower and a child to grow. If we neglect it, neither will flourish. 

God gives us guidance on pruning, in John 15:2 He tells us: “He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”

While reflecting on all of this, I thought about a powerful moment in John 20:11-15.  Mary Magdalene, in her grief, mistakes the risen Jesus for a gardener:

“Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’

She said, ‘They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him.’

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’”

At first, Mary’s assumption seems accidental. But I believe it’s no mistake that Jesus was mistaken for a gardener—because He is. He is the ultimate gardener, lovingly tending to the soil of our hearts, pruning, nurturing, and bringing us to full bloom. And as moms, we get to partner with Him in that process for our children.

There have been days when I’ve cried over losing my patience, wondering if I’m doing enough, and questioning if I’m getting it right. And yet, in those moments, I hear Jesus’ gentle question to Mary: “Why are you crying?” He reminds me and reminds you all as mothers that we are not alone in this garden of motherhood. He is here to tend, prune, and guide right along with us, even when we can’t see the results yet. So with our children, we can keep planting, keep watering, and keep trusting that God will make our children blossom in His perfect time.