Pulling weeds has always been one of my favorite tasks. I have a real sense of accomplishment when I am through, because there is a huge difference in the appearance of the flower bed when I finish. Two weeks ago, I spent a Saturday morning and a Sunday afternoon weeding our front flower bed. When we moved in, Justin and our friend Adam worked extremely hard getting that flower bed looking so nice! Justin planted several Indian hawthorns, and he totally changed the look of the bed. Since then though, an over abundance of weeds has crept in, and before we knew it, the weeds were strangling the Indian hawthorns.
Lessons Learned Pulling Weeds
For these lessons we are going to associate weeds with sin.
Take up your cross daily…
As I was pulling the weeds, some weeds came up easily, while others were much more difficult. Some I was able to get the root but some were just too deep. Needless to say, this week I have been back in the flower bed pulling more weeds! Frustrated by my inability to just wipe them all out, I began to think. This frustration is similar to how I feel about sin. Most often, when I recognize an area of my life that is out of step with Jesus, I deal with it, and then I move on, usually forgetting about it, only to wake up a few weeks later staring it in the face. Christ calls us to daily take up our cross to follow Him. This includes daily looking at our life, recognizing even the smallest sprout of sin and removing it. This is impossible if I am not walking in step with the Holy Spirit.
What is the root?
My inability to get the root of many weeds is the primary reason they reemerged so quickly. This is the same with sin. For example, let’s pick the sin of jealousy. I notice that I am jealous of someone else’s vehicle with a third row seat and so much more space, and I simply say, “Angela, you should not be jealous of their car.” I move on and the next week, I am jealous of someone else’s backyard with tons of space and really great patio furniture. Clearly there is a deeper issue. When I evaluate things, I recognize that I am not trusting God as my provider and believing that He has given me far more that I could ever need. I am going to throw a little Beth Moore at ya, because most often my sin falls into one of five categories she worded well in her Bible study, Believing God. Most often my sin is a result of not believing … God is who He says He is. God can do what He says He can do. I am who God says I am. I can do all things through Christ. God’s word is alive and active in me. In the case of my jealousy, I am not believing that God says He is my Provider.
Dealing with sin can be painful…
As I pulled the weeds, I was nearly through when I felt a painful stinging on my wrist. I never saw what it was, but the result was a strange looking whelp and an arm that tingled from my fingers to my shoulder and began to ache. I did come inside after that sting and take care of my injury, but as tempted as I was to leave the weed pulling to my hubby, I returned the next day to face the weeds once again. As we dig in and seek to deal with sin, there is almost always pain involved. If Satan had it his way, the first twinge of pain would send us running. However, as followers of Christ our desire to look more like Jesus has to outweigh our desire for comfort. There will be pain, sometimes even scars, but our God desires our sanctification and will walk with us through the process.
Sin can appear “pretty”…
I did enlist the help of Elizabeth for a little bit of my weed pulling. (Which by the way could be another lesson learned. Help from the Body is a good thing!) Some of our weeds had pretty little white flowers on them. Elizabeth continuously referred to them as flowers rather than weeds. Unfortunately, we do this a lot with sin. Let’s go back to my jealousy example. I easily explain away this sin, saying, “If we had a bigger yard, we could have more people over more often and be better at hospitality.” That’s righteous, right? NO! God has given us this home and expects us to use it well. It is very easy to explain away our sin, but sin is still sin- let’s call it what it really is!
The list could go on and on, but I will not bore you with my sin issues. I do pray however that you would take a look at the weeds in your own life and seek God’s leading in dealing with them.
Sweet Elaine is 5 months old and just so stinkin' precious! She is even more chill than Elizabeth was at this age, which is pretty crazy! In the past month, she has gotten over the hump of fussy time and really likes hanging out with Daddy when he gets home from work, greeting him with a gummy smile rather than shrill screams. Elaine loves to just lay on her tummy and back and play with her toys or look around at all that is going on. Although she did conquer rolling 360 degrees this month, she prefers rolling over her left shoulder. Most of the time she just rolls over and when she tires of that position, she rolls right back to her original spot. She is a determined grabber; most often my hair gets the brunt of this skill but anything within reach is fair game! She loves her rice cereal before bed, but mommy milk is still her favorite! The spitting up continues; however I don't think it is quite as bad as it was, or maybe I just expect it now! Although she has had a couple of sniffles and what I would call a minor cold, overall Elaine has been very healthy. Praise God! We haven't been to the doctor in a month, but I would say she weighs somewhere around 15 pounds and is getting longer, as she has grown out of one of her sleep sacks. Other favorites include her exersaucer, being outside, snuggling in her knock off moby wrap, and watching Elizabeth. She is sleeping about 10 hours at night and taking two good naps during the day, one of them usually while Elizabeth "naps"(it has become more of rest time with occasional sleep).
Yes, I did put a bow in her "hair." I believe gender neutral outfits necessitate a bow:)
Elaine playing with her "teaching toy" as Elizabeth calls it.
The sun was way too bright at the pumpkin patch! This is the best I could get.
Yes, our child prodigy is reading:)
Feet are such great toys! She prefers socks off though!
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Elaine has somewhat figured out the sippy cup.
Friends! Elaine, Juliet, and Sophia were all born within six weeks of each other. There are so many babies at CityView; Elaine loves it!
