Winter weeding is nice in a way. All the deciduous bushes have lost their foliage, so it was easy to get in under them and dig out sneaky weeds that thrived in hiding during the summer. The damp soil made it easy to pull up alien root systems, and the worn-out monkey grass seemed relieved to lose some of its summer excess.
As I worked, it occurred to me that maybe I could use a good weeding as well! Sometimes I just need to stop, get out of the fray of life for a while and let God tend to the garden. It's easy to let weeds crop up: weeds of selfishness, stubborness, anxiety, self-righteousness, anger... weeds of bitterness and impatience. I develop overgrown foliage of "busyness" and exhaustion which grows unchecked without regular maintenance.
It's really not fun to be weeded (I'm sure my monkey grass would agree!) But weeding is just a fact of life in a garden. All beautiful gardens require maintenance- even in
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And weeding in January... sometimes you just need a break. Ministers and teachers take sabbaticals, understanding that in order to keep producing fruit, you need "down" time to reconnect and let God take care of your weeds. But I feel guilty whenever I'm in a season where I'm feeling less productive- surely something must be wrong with me or my ministry! It would be a relief to finally view these times as a necessary part of my "growth cycle"- weeding and all.
My preacher teases me sometimes about "Sandy-isms". I'm sure he would consider this entire blog entry to be another "Sandy-ism"... Do you think God would be ok with me portraying him as a gardener pulling weeds and pruning bushes? Well, this time I think I've got scripture solidly on my side: Jesus describes God exactly that way in John 15:
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Neat, huh? I'm glad I waited to weed in winter. And I might as well let God get going with his weeding... he's got a lot of work to do!
3 comments:
i hope you are writing a book! and when your done, i want a copy!
love ya,
summer
If that is a "sandy-ism," I want to hear more! What a great analogy.
Taking a break for some Godly weeding is exactly where I am right now, hope my friends will understand, I know God does. Lynn
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