Ever-Growing Weeds
Today I spent some serious time on our garden beds. If you live nearby, don't look too closely-- I spent serious time on them, but I didn't finish!
As I slogged through pulling weeds, I found myself grumbling a little. Why can't things ever stay done? The house that was just cleaned for company on Saturday looks like it's never been touched with a broom or cleaning product. The gardens that were just weeded a week ago look like some kind of secret garden that's been untouched for a century. Shoot, even my eyebrows need to be tweezed again!
Why can't anything ever stay done?
I was many, many weeds in today before I began to think of reasons why things may not stay done, and why that reality might actually be good for me.
For one, most obviously, we live in the real world. And in the real world things are always changing and growing.
Hmmm.
Have you ever stopped to really let that sink in? There's more happening here than my desire for a neatly groomed garden. Mine is not the only story being written day in and day out. There are flowers stretching up to reach the sun, soil feeding the plants deep beneath the surface, rain falling (or not falling) to water them, and weeds vying for space in the midst of it all. There's more to my garden than my story. So when my story collides with their story, well, maybe it takes a little work. Maybe it takes a little reassessment and redefinition of things. There's a much bigger picture, and sometimes I forget to notice it. Overgrown gardens and houses that gather dust may be subtle reminders to open my eyes, to take my laser focus off of my own life and remember that there are other stories unfolding all around me.
Naturally, there's the argument for discipline. Gardens that continue to grow weeds by necessity breed discipline and work ethic. There's something about the need to do something over and over again that teaches us to work hard, to work well, to work efficiently. Repetition cements the skill.
Hmmm.
Gardens aside, how many lessons have I had to relearn--and relearn again? I'm so frustrated when I find myself back in the same situation, facing the same challenge. I even pray, Weren't we just here, God? I've learned this one already! And yet, there's something about having to do something again and again that enables us to perfect it. It teaches us perseverance and it makes us proficient. Maybe weeds are a small reminder that there are bigger lessons I need to continue to master.
And what about growth potential? There are weeds that obviously need to be pulled up, sure, but there are good plants that also need to be pruned. If my gardens were always pristine, I wonder if I'd ever learn the value of assessing what's growing in my life, of cutting back the good and the bad to make room for the better. Isn't that what gardening is all about, after all? We beat back the things that shouldn't grow at all, the weeds in our lives. We prune back the good things that are growing in the wrong seasons or in the wrong directions. We trim back the branches that are blocking the plants that need more attention, more light.
Hmmm.
What are the things in my life that need to be pulled out by the roots? Where have the weeds crept in and begun to choke out the rest of life? What are the good things in the wrong season, the things that need to wait for another time? Where are the things that are over-growing and keeping me from the things that are most important in this season? Where can I clear space to shed light on the places I need most to grow?
Weeding will never be my favorite chore, but maybe the perspective gained on my hands and knees in the soil will make me just a little more diligent in the rest of life too.
As I slogged through pulling weeds, I found myself grumbling a little. Why can't things ever stay done? The house that was just cleaned for company on Saturday looks like it's never been touched with a broom or cleaning product. The gardens that were just weeded a week ago look like some kind of secret garden that's been untouched for a century. Shoot, even my eyebrows need to be tweezed again!
Why can't anything ever stay done?
I was many, many weeds in today before I began to think of reasons why things may not stay done, and why that reality might actually be good for me.
For one, most obviously, we live in the real world. And in the real world things are always changing and growing.
Hmmm.
Have you ever stopped to really let that sink in? There's more happening here than my desire for a neatly groomed garden. Mine is not the only story being written day in and day out. There are flowers stretching up to reach the sun, soil feeding the plants deep beneath the surface, rain falling (or not falling) to water them, and weeds vying for space in the midst of it all. There's more to my garden than my story. So when my story collides with their story, well, maybe it takes a little work. Maybe it takes a little reassessment and redefinition of things. There's a much bigger picture, and sometimes I forget to notice it. Overgrown gardens and houses that gather dust may be subtle reminders to open my eyes, to take my laser focus off of my own life and remember that there are other stories unfolding all around me.
Naturally, there's the argument for discipline. Gardens that continue to grow weeds by necessity breed discipline and work ethic. There's something about the need to do something over and over again that teaches us to work hard, to work well, to work efficiently. Repetition cements the skill.
Hmmm.
Gardens aside, how many lessons have I had to relearn--and relearn again? I'm so frustrated when I find myself back in the same situation, facing the same challenge. I even pray, Weren't we just here, God? I've learned this one already! And yet, there's something about having to do something again and again that enables us to perfect it. It teaches us perseverance and it makes us proficient. Maybe weeds are a small reminder that there are bigger lessons I need to continue to master.
And what about growth potential? There are weeds that obviously need to be pulled up, sure, but there are good plants that also need to be pruned. If my gardens were always pristine, I wonder if I'd ever learn the value of assessing what's growing in my life, of cutting back the good and the bad to make room for the better. Isn't that what gardening is all about, after all? We beat back the things that shouldn't grow at all, the weeds in our lives. We prune back the good things that are growing in the wrong seasons or in the wrong directions. We trim back the branches that are blocking the plants that need more attention, more light.
Hmmm.
What are the things in my life that need to be pulled out by the roots? Where have the weeds crept in and begun to choke out the rest of life? What are the good things in the wrong season, the things that need to wait for another time? Where are the things that are over-growing and keeping me from the things that are most important in this season? Where can I clear space to shed light on the places I need most to grow?
Weeding will never be my favorite chore, but maybe the perspective gained on my hands and knees in the soil will make me just a little more diligent in the rest of life too.
