This is the view that the ugly weeds see as I am pulling them out if the ground. They are perfectly happy multiplying in my yard, and making this spotty mess of multi-colored green. I am less than thrilled about the appearance of them.
The problem with this weed is that it is difficult to see. It entangles and webs and weaves it's way through the healthy beautiful grass around it. It uses the healthy grass as protection and slowly chokes it out until it can take up the space. For weeks I have been driving into our driveway and cringing when I see the lavish and evil weeds that are slowly taking up my once beautiful yard. And for weeks, I pull in the garage and go inside. "Out of sight, out of mind" right? I started making excuses about why they could stay, why we shouldn't do anything about it. "Everyone else in the neighborhood has them, we can't afford to hire someone to kill them, it would take too long to pull them... " the list goes on and on. We even tried to pull them one day... For about 10 minutes....then gave up. I even called a local company, set up a time for them to come assess the job, but canceled the appointment because I knew it was going to end up a financial burden on our family. I had gotten to the point of just accepting these ugly weeds as new members of our family...you know the ones I'm talking about. The ones that no one likes to be around, but there is nothing you can do about them.
Then today, I walk outside and see my sweet patient husband kneeling in the grass pulling the evil things from our grass. Here he is in the middle of this spotted lawn pulling tiny weeds, a job that would take forever. After making sure he knew how LONG it was going to take him, his only comment was "you don't have to pull them." Never once stopping. Of course, I got on my hands and knees and started pulling... Yes, complaining the whole time. Looking up every few minutes and seeing him still pulling and his pile of weeds getting bigger and bigger.
As I was pulling ... And complaining, I realized that this was a lot like my life right now and possibly many others' as well.
We are all faced with this ugly evil that starts out as a seed that embeds itself into healthy, lush, growing Christian lives, and eventually begins to take over in many different ways. Drama, lies, money, greed, selfishness, hate, etc. We start to notice that these "weeds" are slowly taking over. But we keep pulling in the garage and going inside to continue on with your life, hoping that no one else notices. It is often hard to stop life and pull these "weeds" because it will take too much time, be a financial burden , or that we don't know what spot to start pulling first.
This past year has been full of so much joy and happiness. We were growing spiritually, emotionally, and four months ago our family grew physically. Our family "lawn" was lush and beautiful. Although it is still lush and beautiful, there are more "weeds" that I have noticed lately. Selfishness, doubt, and worry.
Being a mom is hard. Being a mom, wife, daughter, granddaughter, friend, teacher, and trying to grow your relationship with our loving God seems impossible sometimes. This is when the "weeds" start webbing their way and starting to choke out the good and healthy.
It wasn't until I saw my husband drop down and start pulling right where he was, grabbing the first weed that he came to. Why shouldn't we do that with our own personal "weeds?" It doesn't matter where we start, just start pulling. Eventually, your pile of weeds will get bigger and your lawn will be healthier.
No comments:
Post a Comment