Getting Started with What You Have
Getting Started with What You Have
A Note from The CPA Herbalist
The Twig That Started Everything
One of the questions I hear most often is:
"Where will I start?"
"I dont have a land."
"I dont have a budget."
"I dont know about gardening"
I understand those concerns because I once asked the very same questions.
I did not begin with a greenhouse.
I did not begin with expensive tools.
I did not even begin with seeds.
I began with a single twig.
A small cutting from a healthy medicinal plant.
No roots.
No guarantees.
Just a recycled container, a little soil, clean water, and a quiet prayer.
Looking back, that little twig changed far more than my garden.
It changed me.
Why I Started with a Twig
Many people think every garden begins with seeds.
Mine didn't.
I intentionally began with cuttings because they cost nothing.
A healthy branch from a generous neighbor, a roadside plant, or our family's forest could become a new plant with a little care.
For someone just beginning, that mattered.
It allowed me to learn propagation without spending money.
More importantly, I knew that one day those very plants would flower, produce seeds, and give me even more opportunities to grow.
The twig was never the destination.
It was simply the first faithful step.
That is often how God works.
He asks us to begin with what is already in our hands.
Three Lessons from Starting Small
1. Use What God Has Already Given You
Perhaps you have a bayabas (guava) tree in your backyard.
Perhaps you have one empty flower pot.
Perhaps you have only ten quiet minutes before breakfast.
Those are not limitations.
They are gifts already entrusted to you.
Don't wait for one hectare.
Start with one pot.
Don't wait for perfect knowledge.
Learn from one plant.
Faithfulness always begins with what we already have.
2. Progress Is Better Than Perfection
Not every cutting survived.
Some rooted beautifully.
Others rotted.
Some simply refused to grow.
Each failure taught me something I could never have learned from success alone.
The Certified Public Accountant in me kept careful records.
Dates.
Watering schedules.
Rooting success.
Seasonal changes.
The herbalist in me learned to observe patiently, adjust humbly, and begin again.
You do not have to be an expert before you begin.
You simply have to remain teachable.
3. Stewardship Begins Today
We often imagine stewardship as something for the future.
"When I retire."
"When I have more land."
"When I have more money."
The garden gently disagrees.
Stewardship begins today.
With one plant.
One observation.
One careful note.
One faithful act of tending.
God rarely asks us to manage tomorrow.
He asks us to be faithful today.
A Personal Reflection
That first twig eventually became a healthy plant.
That plant produced more cuttings.
Later, it flowered.
Eventually, it produced seeds.
Without realizing it, I had begun building not merely a garden, but a continuing cycle of life.
Years later, those small beginnings grew into something I never expected.
A medicinal garden.
A deeper appreciation for God's creation.
Pages of garden journals.
Thousands of photographs.
And eventually...
The CPA Herbalist.
Looking back, I realize the miracle was never the twig.
The miracle was saying "yes" to a small beginning.
The CPA Herbalist's Steward's Note
Every meaningful journey begins with something small.
A twig.
A seed.
A notebook.
A question.
A prayer.
God has always delighted in using small beginnings to accomplish larger purposes.
Our responsibility is not to begin perfectly.
Our responsibility is simply to begin faithfully.
The rest unfolds one season at a time.
"Who dares despise the day of small things?"
— Zechariah 4:10
Growing wisdom, one herb and one story at a time.