The Trouble With Weeds

Over the past few weeks we watched weeds grow by leaps and bounds. At least around our house. Our house is actually my in-laws home and Joe’s childhood home. If you have read my blog or followed my social media, you likely know Joe and I sold our home in October and began the journey of building our dream home. So, we moved in with my in-laws. That is a whole other story for another blog so I will not go into detail here…just know we are still here after 7 months. The plan was four to five weeks. Plans change. 🙂

Now, back to the weeds. There is a brick pathway from the deck leading to the pool in the backyard. It has always been – at least as long as I have been around – very well maintained and manicured. You would have been hard pressed to find a weed…especially one that was tall enough to tickle your kneecap. That was until this year. With Joe’s dad moving into longterm care six weeks ago, his mom’s health declining, and Joe and I simply trying to survive our new – temporary – normal, the weeds were given free rein at the start of spring.

Our oldest son officially became a teenager last week. I know, I can barely believe it either! In the week’s leading up to his birthday we were making plans for a grand celebration. We knew we wanted to utilize the backyard to give the kids something to do at his party. So, I knew we had to tackle the weeds. I am not one to do yard work. At least not willingly or without a random huff and puff. BUT…the weeds. I asked Joe to mix some weed killer so I could spray those boogers. I thought, hey, this could actually be satisfying and relaxing. It was at first…until I realized there were 100 million weeds in a ten foot space. Good grief.

Some of the weeds were short and stubby and did not look like much. Others had beautiful purple (my favorite color) flowers on the very tips of them. While others looked like grass, but if you touched them they surprised you with sharp prickly things that would penetrate your skin in a second. The first time that happened it took my breath away and I quickly withdrew my hand to my side trying to shake the prickles out of my fingers. I have to be honest – I thought all I would have to do is spray those suckers and they would instantly shrivel up and die. And disappear. Clearly I have never sprayed weeds before. You can laugh, but this was my expectation.

Well, if you have ever sprayed these pesky nuisances you know they do not instantly shrivel up and die…nor do they disappear. As a matter of fact, some turn brown and shrivel up while others do not appear to change at all from the outside – they simply get weaker at the root and are easier to pull out. Even still, some weeds have to be sprayed a second time to really get to the root.

Think about it for a minute. We have “weeds” in our lives, don’t we? Our weeds may look like a bad habit. Gossip. Lying. Pride. Envy. Idols. Shame. Fear. Depression. Anger. Greed. Past mistakes. Gosh, I could go on. Maybe your weeds are not listed here, but you know them. You know them so well – you carry them like treasure in your pocket. Not all treasure is wanted.

Here’s the thing, I know when I have sprayed weeds in my own life some have shriveled up quicker than others and were easy to get rid of. Some have taken a second – and even a third – spray. Others have not appeared to change much, but when I have gone to pluck them out of my foundation the root has come out easily. That is what you want…the whole root. If you leave part of the root it leaves space for the weed to grow back.

Friends, does your life need a little weeding today? Just like the brick pathway and area around the pool is going to require continued maintenance to make sure the weeds are controlled, so do our lives. We need to stay on top of it and do maintenance instead of waiting until the weeds are overwhelming. It took me 5 or 6 days to pull all of them out of the ground after they were dead! It would have been a quicker process if I had asked for help. Oh, and just like the weeds outside, not all weeds in our lives look like weeds. Remember the ones with the pretty purple flowers on top? They look pleasing to the eye, but they are still weeds and they need to be plucked out by the root.

Our heavenly daddy is the perfect weed pulling companion. Trust me, I know. He helps me weed my garden often. Happy gardening!