To say our life has been jam packed busy lately would be a major understatement! A couple weeks ago I went out to check the mail, and got side tracked by the massive amount of weeds in my flower beds. It occurred to me that I haven’t pulled weeds from the flower beds at all this spring. So, I sat down and started pulling weeds. As I was pulling, I started thinking.... This flower bed is much like my own life-- full of weeds, and not looking so pretty at this moment.
That isn’t to say that anything going on in my life is bad, there is just alot of it. And, sometimes when we don’t have the sense or courage to say no, our lives fill up with weeds that after time will choke out the beautiful flowers. Too many commitments, too many projects, being too many things to too many people. You have probably heard it said this way, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” I was coming to realize that I was trying to do so many things that I wasn’t able to do any of them well. So, it is time to start pulling some of the weeds out of my life.
Deciding to do something is the easy part, following through is where life gets hard. Like my flower bed, there are different types of weeds in my life. First, the easy ones are the big clumps of grass. Easy to see as something that doesn’t belong, and thankfully the roots aren’t very deep, grab them by the bottom and a quick, swift jerk will remove them. Second, are the small individual blades of grass or weeds. Like the big clumps, the roots don’t run very deep, they are easy to pull. However, it takes forever to pluck those guys one by one. These guys not only covered my flower bed, they cover my life. I see these as the little social calendar events that I have committed to that we don’t really want to do, small little projects that I said I would handle but really shouldn’t have, and the general busyness that I often fall victim to. All of it fairly easy to deal with, you just have to take them time to consider each one and let it hang out a while longer or yank. The third weed is those stubborn, thorny, vine like weeds that have roots of steel that run deep. To be honest, getting rid of them is difficult and down right hurts sometimes. I see these as my bad habits that I have developed that affect my life in a negative way, large commitments that I have signed on for, a few “toxic” relationships that I need to avoid. I know, the last one seems a bit harsh. But, let’s be honest here. There are some people in our lives that we have tried to “minister to” or befriend that just flat out drag us down. Not to say that we can’t be Jesus in skin to them, but maybe we don’t need to so absorb them into our lives. My mom used to tell me “one bad apple will ruin the whole bunch”.
So, I came to the point that I knew I had some gardening to do.... what did I do? Nothing immediately. I just went inside with dirty hands thinking about the next project that I had coming my way. I had 10 days to take and pass my broker’s exam or have to retake my classes. So, I didn’t have time to de-weed; I had to study! That is a whole other concept, but those of you who know me well know that taking standardized tests is probably my single greatest fear in life. I would rather sit in an open room and write you a 300 page essay about what I do know, than be forced to sit in a small cubicle with a tiny computer screen and click on boxes with a definite answer that will tell you what I may not know. Well, I took the test last Thursday, and I passed. Great news, project complete, big clump of grass pulled. Kinda.... just opens a new era of weeds that have to be dealt with.
Thursday I came home from the test, I walk back into my house, look around, and completely freak out! My kids are wild, my house is a nasty wreck, and laundry is every where. Again, those of you who know me well know that I like my house straight and clean; laundry is always washed, dried, folded and put away on Mondays; my meal plans are established weeks in advance; and I expect my kids to behave. I start thinking, I don’t remember the last time I picked up the house, I haven’t scrubbed the toilets in months, and those pop corn kernels in the floor have been there at least a week, and my kids have been jumping off the back of the couch at least 2 weeks now, because I haven’t had the energy to tell them to stop. I AM DONE. This has to stop, I have to rest and regain control. I MUST DEWEED MY LIFE, NOW!
So, I have spent the greater part of this weekend in bed. Not just in bed, but with 4 books beside me. I have been resting, studying God’s word, and praying about God’s plan for my life. I figured before I started yanking weeds out of my life, I needed to see what God’s idea was....
