Weeds

*Still working on talks. Still recycling little nuggets from CaringBridge. Still hope and pray you find encouragement reading. Still appreciate your prayers for me during the next several days. 

So we are hosting 125 interns/stinters and staff at our home Saturday. We love opening our home and it’s a great reason to kick into high gear and attack all those unfinished home projects. I am, of course, currently procrastinating and thinking about my bag cleaning system and hoping that the kitchen curtains I’m sewing will magically self correct because last night when Darrin hung them up they were visibly longer on the left side. Darrin asked me, “Did you measure?” “Uh, well, I sort of eyeballed it.” I am not into precision. Not even remotely.

We’ve had a lot of rain this spring which has resulted in one of the worst allergy seasons to date. The resulting weeds are so high small children could get lost in the back yard planters for days on end. Seriously, the weeds are waist-high in most places. So, today while was attacking the weeds with Darrin, I started thinking about life and weeds…

First, weeds take no effort to grow. They just do. The waist-high ones by the mail box grew without any dirt or fertilizer. Left untended, my soul is bent toward self and selfishness and sin.

Weeds are easier to pull when the ground is damp. I think sometimes the kindness of others, sometimes pain and tears help the weeding process go more smoothly. Humility, grace, forgiveness. Those things experienced and kneaded in my life help soften the ground.

The big hairy weeds often have really shallow roots. It continues to surprise me how easy it is to pull those intimidating ones out. The trickier weeds are the “prettier ones” that have really complicated root systems. I’ve been convicted lately of how often my motive for doing nice things is driven by trying to head off anger and disappointment. So those nice things are actually at the root a way to manipulate and control rather than to truly love.

“Something is better than nothing.” Leila and I adopted that mantra when we started the P90X workout thing back in January (which, by the way, we actually completed :)). We couldn’t do all the pull ups and push ups but we kept showing up and saying, “Something is better than nothing.” and we are both stronger today than when we started. With the weeds, well,  I know they will come back but whatever little I’ve done is still better than not doing anything.

Pulling weeds is better done with others. Life and relationships. I am the type of person that needs a reason to clean up the yard. People are coming over! I need people in my life and to regularly open my soul to others. It keeps the weeds in check.

Do you have additional insights about weeds?