Friday, May 28, 2010

Rearranging Life

Posted by Tracy Wainwright at 8:24 AM
I like this time of year. The kids can get outside and play. We don't have the pool up, which means I can leave them outside by themselves. My garden is planted (mostly) and is beginning to be fruitful. The weeds are trying to take over my garden.

Really, I do like the last part. Most people despise weeds. You would think I would after spending hours upon hours pulling them out this week with plenty more to get to. However, gardening is very good for my blood sugars, keeps me outside with the kids, and is therapeutic in that it allows me to think as I work.

Yesterday, I was hoeing a new row for my watermelon plants. God always teaches me something through my work in my garden, and yesterday was no different. As I was building my new, elevated row, I paused here and there to take uprooted weeds and toss them aside (I pile them in the "ditches" between the rows; a big pile of dead weeds and some newspaper keep new weeds from growing back.) As I did so, I thought about how we often rearrange things in our lives without really dealing with them or submitting them to God.

That's what I was doing, after all. I was rearranging the dirt and the weeds into a pile. We often deal with the hurts, disappointments, losses, and tragedies in our lives the same way. We rearrange things. We move. We try on a new job. Or a new wardrobe. Or a new husband. Or a new church. Or a new religion. We try to move things around in our lives, not realizing that we've simply piled the dirt on top of the weeds. We can't see them and therefore think they're gone. But, just like the weeds in my garden, left long enough, they will creep back through and take over again.

We will have the same relational conflicts with new people. We will find just as many things wrong with our new job. We will need even newer clothes. We will be dissatisfied that the current church or belief system we're trying out doesn't quite do what we thought it would. Then, most likely we will try rearranging things again. Why? Because it's easier.

As I built my new row, the quickest and easiest thing to do (although it doesn't feel easy, because I was putting so much work in to rearranging things with the hoe) is to leave things moved around. It looked nice. I'd done so much work already. However, to truly deal with the weeds, I needed to spend the extra time, energy, and effort to remove them. It required squatting, digging, and pulling. It took even more work, but it will be worth it in the long run.

We need to do the same with the weeds that have grown up in our lives. We all have them. It's not an easy task, but it is worth it in the long run.

0 comments on "Rearranging Life"

Friday, May 28, 2010

Rearranging Life

I like this time of year. The kids can get outside and play. We don't have the pool up, which means I can leave them outside by themselves. My garden is planted (mostly) and is beginning to be fruitful. The weeds are trying to take over my garden.

Really, I do like the last part. Most people despise weeds. You would think I would after spending hours upon hours pulling them out this week with plenty more to get to. However, gardening is very good for my blood sugars, keeps me outside with the kids, and is therapeutic in that it allows me to think as I work.

Yesterday, I was hoeing a new row for my watermelon plants. God always teaches me something through my work in my garden, and yesterday was no different. As I was building my new, elevated row, I paused here and there to take uprooted weeds and toss them aside (I pile them in the "ditches" between the rows; a big pile of dead weeds and some newspaper keep new weeds from growing back.) As I did so, I thought about how we often rearrange things in our lives without really dealing with them or submitting them to God.

That's what I was doing, after all. I was rearranging the dirt and the weeds into a pile. We often deal with the hurts, disappointments, losses, and tragedies in our lives the same way. We rearrange things. We move. We try on a new job. Or a new wardrobe. Or a new husband. Or a new church. Or a new religion. We try to move things around in our lives, not realizing that we've simply piled the dirt on top of the weeds. We can't see them and therefore think they're gone. But, just like the weeds in my garden, left long enough, they will creep back through and take over again.

We will have the same relational conflicts with new people. We will find just as many things wrong with our new job. We will need even newer clothes. We will be dissatisfied that the current church or belief system we're trying out doesn't quite do what we thought it would. Then, most likely we will try rearranging things again. Why? Because it's easier.

As I built my new row, the quickest and easiest thing to do (although it doesn't feel easy, because I was putting so much work in to rearranging things with the hoe) is to leave things moved around. It looked nice. I'd done so much work already. However, to truly deal with the weeds, I needed to spend the extra time, energy, and effort to remove them. It required squatting, digging, and pulling. It took even more work, but it will be worth it in the long run.

We need to do the same with the weeds that have grown up in our lives. We all have them. It's not an easy task, but it is worth it in the long run.

0 comments:

 

themommyanswer Copyright © 2009 Paper Girl is Designed by Ipietoon Sponsored by Online Business Journal