Saturday, May 3, 2008

Weeds in My Path



WOW, what a beautiful day in So Cal!

I would like to just share how the Lord ministered to me yesterday, as I was pulling weeds from my much neglected brick pathway.

As I went about" encouraging" the weeds to LET GO of the ground, it occurred to me; IF this path was regularly used, the weeds would NOT grow here!

I see examples of this where my horses habitually traverse the pasture, where my dogs come & go around my property, and even in the long two-way paths ants make on their journeys.

Pathways, when not traveled, eventually grow completely over with weeds! A grown-over path is not very attractive & becomes even hard to FIND! Hmmm, a whole other lesson here.

Other issues with weeds growing in our path: various disagreeable debris blows by, gets caught in the weeds and begins to create heaps of WHO-KNOWS-WHAT!?! This in turn creates inviting habitats for insects and all manner of creatures that seek the DARK.

We have to walk cautiously to avoid stumbling ONto or stepping INto something unpleasant that may be lurking in the weeds. We don't want to get stuck BY anything or get anything stuck ON us! A lot of those things that live in the dark are slimy, creepy &/or BITE!

Weeds can discourage us from taking the path that was created for us: they ruin our view, hide our witness, and take the joy out of our journey.

It becomes easy to turn our head and ignore those nasty weeds. "I'm too busy, too tired; I need tools I don't have: I just won't LOOK!"

The task of removing the weeds in MY path SEEMED overwhelming! Some were especially tenacious. They had grown strong and tall and had been bearing seed and multiplying freely. Yikes, ANOTHER lesson!

However, yesterday I FINALLY just sat down with the Lord and DETERMINED to go at it! I yanked out ONE weed at a time, right from its roots. Each success drove me forward to pull MORE! It was actually FUN and SO satisfying!

OUT with UNFORGIVENESS! Out with ANGER! Then BITTERNESS and COMPLAINING! OUT SELFISHNESS;and you, MURMURING, OUT! ALL of you are OUT of here!! It felt so GOOD to clear that path! Most of the weeds came out SO much easier than I had imagined!

However, the job would have taken SO much less time, strength, and energy had I taken a few MINUTES each day (even each WEEK) to pull out the tiny baby sprouts BEFORE they had a chance to take root!

My brick pathway is now clear, clean, accessible, beautiful, and INVITING! A much better WITNESS to the awesome GLORY of our awesome GOD!

Mmmm, it was a long day, but I slept SO well! The first thing this morning - I looked out my window and saw that pretty path framing the front of my house.

As I smiled and thanked Jesus, I felt like He was smiling too!

Oh yeah, a BEAUTIFUL day! :)

18 comments:

His Girl said...

This is an absolutely beautiful post, my mommy. I loved every single word, and it ministered to my heart. Well done!

Becky said...

What a beautiful way to explain that...it makes great sense! I really enjoyed dropping by your blog!

I can see where HisGirl gets her gift of expressing those things that the Lord teaches us in an easy to understand 'devotional' style.

Halfmoon Girl said...

That was a lovely post- as I plan to do a lot of gardening this week- I will keep these words in mind. Welcome to blogging- I hopped over hear from your daughter's site.

Unknown said...

What beautiful writing! I can see where your His Girl gets her talent from. I look forward to reading future posts that He writes through you. May God bless you for glorifying Him in this way.

Jenster said...

Well I can see where Amber gets her many gifts.

Nice blog, Moomis!!

Sing4joy said...

Geez. I was doing the SAME thing to MY path! Overgrown with weeds due to neglect. Did you have to go and point out my weedy nature too? So poignant and true. Thank you so much for sharing!
BTW - I love your pic graphic at the top of your page!

Gretchen said...

Welcome to the blogosphere, Moomis. Thank you for the reminder to tend our paths and keep them from weeds with God at the weed whacker, of course. ;)

Blessings,gretchen

Growin' with it said...

What a fabulous analogy. I will look at weeds differently now!! Came over from His Girl...what a sweet girl you have there and I look forward to getting to know her mom too. Welcome to the fun of blogging!

Sheryl said...

WOW! What a great post. I've been in the process of digging out the weeds in my heart too, so I appreciate your wisdom. Now we know where your daughter gets it from.

Welcome to "bloggy-land".

Sheryl

Beck said...

Lovely!
And I hope you love blogging and have a great time with your blog!

PJ said...

wow!! I came over from "His Girl" (and yours!). I can see the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. You write well!! Thanks for the encouraging Word!

Alana said...

I'm not much of a gardener in real life, but I certainly have plenty of weeds to pull in my spiritual path.

So nice to meet you. And I absolutely adore your daughter...she is such a gem!

Fran said...

AMEN!! And, beautiful too!

welcome to blogworld....we all think your daughter is pretty cool on hers too! :)

I'll be back to visit again!
Blessings~
Fran
TN

mommy to six J's said...

I enjoyed your blog have a blessed day Char

Mrs.Naz@BecomingMe said...

I love your daughter's site and am now so glad I found yours. What a beautiful post.

Andrea Frazer said...

Can I call myself Moomis P if I read you?

Gayle @ thewestiecrew said...

Welcome to the blogosphere, Moomis!
What a great, insightful post.

Jenn said...

Welcome Moomis to the blog world!! I found you through your daughter, who I really have enjoyed getting to know over the last few months. I am glad to call her friend.

I loved this post, I see HG gets her writing talent from you. I have a brown thumb when it comes to gardening. But I know there are definitely some weeds I need to put in my own life.

Looking forward to reading more of you blog. Have a wonderful Sunday! :o)