Weeds - Part III

I’ve talked about my rock garden before. Whenever life gets too busy, the weeds get out of control. If you haven’t read Part I and II, you can by clicking HERE and HERE.

Usually when I weed my entire body hurts for a couple of days. This time I thought I would be smart and not bend over as much and sit while I weed. Imagine how tricky that would be in a rock garden. I took a cardboard box and flatten it. I used it to sit on. From a distance the weeds looked massive. (Pictured above is the actual weed from my garden.) As I grabbed a handful to pull I noticed it had one central root and the weed came up. I guess it wasn’t going to be as bad it first appeared.

After I pulled the main weed out and was about to spray, I noticed there were tiny little weeds between the rocks ready to spring up. I couldn’t believe how much there were. I had to bend closely to see them and remove rocks to get to others. The thing that kills me was that we had put down protective tarp that was suppose to keep weeds from growing but instead these babies come up right through the black tarp. They were mutant weeds out of a bad B-movie.

It was very frustrating because after the major removal there was so much to spray. My hand became tired and I had to switch back and forth as not to damage my hands. It really didn’t matter because all I could get done was the front yard. After about two hours and a very large black garbage bag, I was done. My back and arms were hurting. The sun was starting to beat on me and I felt exhausted. I was so mad at myself. I had many more projects to do in the house and I was determined not to overdue it in the garden.

I got cleaned up and got ready to go to the store. I was about to go food shopping when Tom looked at me and told me I had to take a nap for at least an hour. He let me sleep for two. I was under orders to just do the food shopping and the rest of the projects would have to wait. Doctor Tom ordered rest and I decided it was wise counsel.

While I was working on the weeds God started to speak to me. Weeds are like the sin in life. Some are obvious and they grow to the point of overtaking us. It’s at this point I could have used some help pulling the weeds. It wouldn’t have taken so long and I wouldn’t have felt so beat up afterwards. It's the same with sin, sometimes we need the help of someone we trust to help us overcome.

Some weeds are small and hide inside behind the rocks. They aren’t visible until something larger is removed. They are much easier to get rid of at this stage, but what if I’m not looking. Then I can’t see what’s wrong. It’s good to sometimes take a look at yourself (not in a way that puts condemnation upon you) but conviction prompted by the Holy Spirit. When sin doesn’t take root and overgrow we are more apt to have a better garden that is healthy and strong. So Lord help me to see better the weeds hiding in my life. Let nothing hinder my relationship with You.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Check out my husband’s blog post called, “What We Look Like Through Their Eyes.” The magazine, The Stranger, sent out 31 writers to different religious services all on the same day. It’s long but worth the read.