Lessons in Weeds

To some who may know me very well may find it surprising that I....

{insert drumroll here}

weeded.

Amazing. I know. I figured: my dad is working his tail off to be able to make life comfortable for my family as well as pay for my brother and my education{s}, and I am currently {still} jobless, so perhaps helping out around the yard might be helpful. It wasn't much, but it was enough to give me very sore knees and a migraine. I am now convinced we need a goat or two to help with the half acre that is positively drowning in weeds. 

{plus they're SO darn cute!}

My mother used to have me pull weeds when I was younger, and I hated it. In a desperate attempt to make me stick to something, she said I could have 5 cents per weed I pulled. 

She didn't gamble on my little entrepreneur brain realizing that a yard full of weeds at five cents a weed would equate to a large{ish} sump of money. Especially when I brought her the buckets.

{Plural, for those who don't understand the "sss" at the end, but silly me, all my friends who would read this are super smart anyway :)}

The price per weed rapidly shrunk to one measly cent.

~~~
I hope you get the chance to weed someday.
It could change your life. 

I turned on my Mumford & Sons Pandora station on my iPhone, and attacked.

It was glorious mindlessness. I could just focus on the weeds, and lose myself in the ebb and flow of the music

While viciously ripping up roots of the unfortunate plants, my mindless work turned to thoughts flowing in and out of my head, dancing to the music from my headphones.
I realized how much my life is like a garden. God created me: he planted such beautiful, wonderful plants and flowers of all variaties. All rare and priceless, so much so that all can only be found in MY garden. 

The weeds are the plants that Satan has grown:

They are the emotions; the pain, the suffering, jealousy, greed, lust, and such overwhelming terrible anger; they grow and spread and choke all of the beautiful plants that God created. When weeding, it is important to get the ENTIRE plant. Not just the stalk, or a few leaves. Unless you get the root, the weed will just come back. I weed every once in a while, just ripping off enough of the plant so I can't see it anymore. Often times, I forget to address the {parden the pun} root of my problems. The roots, the deep hold that Satan has over me, are so strong; I don't have the strength to deal with them. To try to pull them out of the ground seems nearly impossible. 

Here's the catch, the fact that I continuously forget to remember: that I can not clear the weeds of my garden alone. The Lord says, "Come to me all that are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest." {Matt 11:28}

I've heard every sermon, I've listened to years of devotional speakers, I know the verses. Yet the act of giving my problems to God and saying, "I can't do this without you," then letting go is almost harder than the actual dealing with the issues. 

Here is what I know:

Number one: "I am a great sinner, and Christ is the GREAT savior."

Number two: I can not do it all on my own.

Number three: It's time to focus on the roots of the weeds

God give me strength.