Wednesday, June 18, 2008

With God in the Weeds

So my final research paper on Proverbs 31 got written after a delightful all-nighter... then we packed, had a great dinner with Jodi and flew down to CA. The next few days were amazing and pics/stories will ensue, but have been delayed because of... weeds. Many, many weeds inhabiting our property- more than seemingly possible. It is a sad thing when two people spend six hours in a garden and only get about 1/6 of the weeds up. However, some comical moments and spiritual nuggets always accompany our times in the garden. Here are a few of today's:

1) I always want to do the front yard first, because that's what neighbors and passers-by see. But the back yard is the beast that needs to be conquered. Likewise, in our lives, we try to take care of what's up front, and act like we've got everything together some times, to the neglect of real issues in our lives. Let me tell you people, the backyard weeds don't just disappear on their own! And neither do issues in our lives, I'm sad to say; I wish they did. But they need our attention. We can pretend to be happy and like everything is fine, but if the weeds in the back aren't rooted out, they'll keep on growin until they're almost unbearable. I hope your lives and mine don't get to a place like that. Take care of the back yard first.

2) Some times it's really hard to tell between a weed and a plant. Some weeds aren't spiky and ugly, they're deceivingly attractive. But I'm the gardener, and I know what belongs and what doesn't. I was reminded of Jesus' parable of The Weeds and the Wheat. a) I want to be a plant, not a weed and b) pray for others to be as well and c) while I'm fine being the judge in our yard, I'm glad I'm not the eternal judge between the two.

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