In Review: 2012 and What's Next in the Gethsemane Prayer Garden?

In 2012 we completed one of the largest expansions of the garden area. By clearing a large thicket of overgrown brush near the stream last spring, we are now officially calling this a two-acre garden. That area was planted with cosmos which unfortunately did not fair very well with the dry weather and lack of watering.

Then last fall, another 150 feet of walkway was added on the southern side of the garden along with a large wooden cross and two wooden grape trellis structures as an illustration of the pruning process in John 15:2.

My regular prayer to God has been, "What's next?"

For some time, I have been seeing a vision of a large wooden gazebo. This began when I saw a 12'x20' gazebo at the Treadway Inn in Owego NY:

The cost of this gazebo is well beyond what Faith Chapel can afford, even if we use our own construction crews. But I know that if God wants it built, He will provide a way.

In my prayers I have also asked God about the lack of water and electricity in the garden. So far there has not been an answer:

• WATER: There is water available at the church but the difficulty is in getting the hoses across the parking lot to the targeted areas. Lugging the hoses into the garden and then coiling them up at the end of the day is challenging – not a task to be left for the faint-hearted. As a result, dry areas are not adequately watered and the plants suffer each year.
• ELECTRICITY: We had four weddings in this garden in 2012 and I expect many more in future years. Weddings really could use electricity to amplify their voices and sing whatever songs the new couple selects. Possibly we could have outdoor lighting or we could place spotlights on the wooden cross. And to build that gazebo, it would sure help if we had electricity.

I'm not exactly sure why God replied as He has, but He continues to remind me of a song by Hillsong with the title, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul".

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End Note: The overall theme for this series of articles is flowers and plants, showing how they point to love. Sometimes I write 'how to' do something, other times the emphasis is a status update, or the article will be about how a plant or flower touched my heart. All of these writings are based on plants from the Gethsemane Prayer Garden in Syracuse, NY. Please consider some of the other blog articles: Index of Articles About the Gethsemane Prayer Garden.
Tom Clarke, Caretaker of the Gethsemane Prayer Garden