{"id":24771,"date":"2020-05-17T23:00:27","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T04:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/?p=24771"},"modified":"2026-05-13T21:59:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T02:59:03","slug":"plant-a-garden-coloring-page","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2020\/05\/17\/plant-a-garden-coloring-page\/","title":{"rendered":"Plant a Garden Coloring Page"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Plant<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This week’s “Scripture Sunday” coloring page<\/a> is taken from Jeremiah 29:5<\/a>. “Plant gardens and eat what they produce.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Plant<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Click to Print Plant Gardens Coloring Page<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n


Plant gardens. This was part of the instructions God gave Israel when they’d been taken to Babylon as exiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.'” (Jeremiah 29:4-9<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I imagine a lot of those exiles did not like their present circumstances. They were probably in a holding pattern, hoping their predicament would change soon. Longing for the life they once knew. Wondering how long it would be before things returned to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, they felt then like a lot of us feel today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doesn’t it seem like the world’s been holding its breath — literally and figuratively — waiting for this COVID-thing to blow over?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe we need to take the same advice God gave the Israelites in Jeremiah. We need to accept the fact things aren’t going to get “back to normal.” At least, not anytime soon. And rather than bemoaning that fact or allowing it to paralyze us, we need to adapt. Build houses. Plant gardens. Get married. Have babies. Find new ways of doing things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And pray. Always pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n