Yardwork

If you know very much about me, you will know that I mow our yard a good bit. I grew up having to share that job with my brothers, so I don't mind it too much. It's good exercise! I do keep hoping the riding mower we have will get fixed, though!

Although I carry on the chore from childhood, I did not inherit my mother's knack for gardening or flowers. I can hardly keep any alive! Needless to say, as long as I get the yard mowed, that's about all I can do. I would never win Yard of the Year because of my flower beds. I was mowing yesterday and noticed two things.

First, after my wonderful husband came in and took over finishing the yard, I decided to see what I could do to the front beds. Having not really taken care of them over the summer, they were pretty bad. So, I got on hands and knees and began to pull.I was grabbing and clawing with both hands, pulling everything away I could with all my might.

It then occurred to me if only we did the same with our sins.

If only we could realize what the bed of our heart looks like sometimes. If only we would tear away with such fierceness the roots of bitterness, anger, jealousy, lust, gossip, envy, and pride, not to mention the "big" ones deeply planted among them.

If you have this weeding picture in mind now, you might imagine that it's a messy job. My fingernails were black; once I even grabbed a vine of briars. Not fun. A stick stabbed me in the hand and my legs hurt from trying not to just sit on the ground. My thumb hurt where I had burned it earlier that day. I even got a whiff of a gift left by a roaming dog. Weeding is a hard, messy job. But, the more I pulled, the more I wanted to pull. I wanted it to look better.

It was getting darker, and I realized something else. In order to really do the job right, I needed light. Who knows what I may have pulled up if I'd kept going in the dark. I was also afraid I might grab a critter of some sort! We also can't weed out the bad in our lives without the LIGHT. His light shines on us and shows us what needs to be removed. He is the true Gardener.

One other thing, not related to weeding so much, that I noticed yesterday, was a cluster of green in the back flower beds. They too have many weeds in them, and lots of rocks! So, I've pretty much let it go as well! But I noticed two groups of something growing. I am pretty sure it is flowers, but I don't remember planting them! What a surprise it will be to see what they look like when they bloom. After a conversation with Jason last night, the Lord confirmed what I had been thinking. We have a job to plant seeds in the soil of others' lives. Often it seems there is no fruit coming from our hard labor. Then, someday the flower will bloom from the seed that we don't even remember planting. I really do pray I am planting the right seeds in the lives of our youth, my students and my children. I pray that I and others will water that seed along the way, and that God will bloom it in His time. And in the waiting, His grace will cover them. I also pray in my own life and theirs, that He will weed out those things that don't belong so that we are a beautiful garden in His eyes. Then, we can be a fragrant witness of His beauty and grace.