2020 Victory Gardens

It’s planting time here.  Late April in Kentucky is last frost, so many people start their gardens.  I’m thinking this year about the Victory Gardens of WWII and suddenly they seem relevant and I understand why they were important then.  

When the US entered WWII, several things happened to reduce the food supply.  Farmers volunteered to fight, people who had worked in food factories left to fight or build weapons, and food needed to be shipped to the soldiers. The US government had to encourage everyone to plant their own gardens to relieve the shortages.  Someone came up with the brilliant name “Victory Gardens” to reinforce the image of heroism and positivity.  They weren’t “Emergency Gardens” or “Food Shortage Gardens.”  

These gardens did more than supply food.  They gave everyone a contribution in the war effort, they gave the people in a common activity, and they created feelings of unity and togetherness.  Brilliant idea.  It was a necessary idea, but also ended up being an unifying idea.  

So now the movement is gearing back up.  2020 Victory Gardens are going in as we speak because people fear a possible food shortage this year as factories close down.  I think planting the gardens is good.  There are no negatives there that I can see. And this can be a unifying thing for us as it was in the last century.  And planning ahead is good, as I wrote in my last post.  

But the fear part is what we have to be aware of.  Feeling insecure about the future is normal because, as I said last week, God hasn’t equipped us for any day except today.  And he specifically told us to pray “Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11

This is not easy for us.  We are Americans, and we generally have not had to pray for daily food.  It’s there.  We don’t even think about it much of the time.  But God never intends to give us permanent peace or assurance of endless food because we need to depend on Him every day.  Remember the manna?  The Israelites had enough for every day, but could not gather ahead.  It rotted overnight.  So they had to depend on God day after day.  

We will plant a Victory Garden.  I can’t guarantee it will produce much, but we will try anyway. But I will be praying “Give us this day our daily bread” every day. That’s really where my food will come from.