Beauty in the weeds - Part Two!

It has been two weeks since I posted the pics of my weed choked flower bed (just one of many areas that needed/needs tending!)  After hard work with the help of my husband and granddaughters we managed to clear a few areas.  I worked primarily on that favorite flower area.  In that two weeks we have experienced heavy rain, a near freeze, hail and wildly fluctuating temperatures!  A typical spring season in central Texas.

If you scroll down and look at my previous post you can see where I started.  With most of the weeds pulled the mint and lovely Turk's Cap shrub are making their appearance.  The purple Wandering Jew is poking up strongly and the dianthus, lilies, Gerbera daisy and Mexican Heather all have new growth.  Sadly, my large stand of Snapdragons didn't make it this year after 8 years in the ground, sometimes things just die.   There is still a little more clearing to do, some supplements from the compost pile to be added and a top coat of fresh mulch, but with just a little bit of work and effort it already looks tremendously better.  

How have you been working on your 'weeds'? Have you been clearing away some of the junk to reveal the beauty that has been hidden? Did you reveal some things during lent but not completely clear out all of the weeds in order to feed, add-in and boost the growth of your spiritual being? Before too long, especially after all of the life giving rain, this bed will be thriving with beautiful plants and the butterflies, hummingbirds and bees will be visiting, not to mention the refreshment of some lemonade with that yummy spearmint!  My eyes, nose and other senses will be blessed by a little hard work of starting by clearing the weeds.  The pretty plants would still have been there, but they would be competing with the weeds that were choking and hiding the beauty.  Sometimes it is easier for me to let the weeds  take over.  If I just get started, like I did on this bed, it feels so good to clean things up.  Same with the soul.  Just get started! Pull at least one 'weed' today - forgive one person, contact one loved one that you have been missing, or remind yourself  in some way how much God loves you and the beauty that He placed inside of you.  Pull the weeds.

Another area that has burst forth takes very little care at all - my antique rose.  

This hardy plant by its very nature is a survivor.  Most of these antique roses have been cultivated and started from shoots and cuttings that have been taken from abandoned farm sites or roadsides. We have a wonderful place in Texas called the Antique Rose Emporium that specializes in these beauties.  They are rarely bothered by pests, diseases or climates that some fussier roses succumb to, they simply grow once tended just a bit after planting. We did, however, have to give this one some added support this year! Just a few days ago, before it burst into this bloom, this arbor was in danger of toppling over.  It was built 10 years ago from cedar on our property, and it has held up well.  The rose does such a good job of growing and thriving that it just put too much weight on the weary arbor.  My husband winched the post over to another fence and added additional support to the post, straightening the entire structure and securing it for the added weight of the well established rose.  Perhaps your spirit is like that rose.  It just keeps on, you feed it, you water it and you have given it a place to 'grow' but just like this beautiful rose, you may appear and actually be thriving and blooming but a strong support must be in place to continue.  That rose would have been just as beautiful and just as strong laying on the ground.  It would not have been ideal - it loves to climb on that arbor!  We can keep on like those hardy roses, and we can bloom year after year in our spiritual walk.  To be at our best we need to take care of our support system!  How are you doing that?  Scripture? Prayer? Fellowship? Worship?  

Check your support, and tend it.  Do what you need to in order to keep blooming!

1 Peter 5:10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.  All power to him forever. Amen!

Beauty in the weeds

As I was out on this cool, cloudy 60 degree morning feeding animals and checking on my vegetable plants I glanced over at one of my (previously) favorite garden beds.  It is choked with weeds, random tramples where the grand-girls have played hide and seek and just basic winter neglect.  I started weeding a couple of weeks ago, but severe allergies took over so I limited my time outside to minimal things needed to get my tomatoes and peppers planted and a few other necessary chores.  With just a bit of rain, beautiful sunny days and mild temps the flower bed is a cacophony of WEEDS!  But look a bit closer - my dianthus, Gerbera daisies and lilies are poking through.  In another section my purple wandering jew, fragrant spearmint and my other flowering shrub are poking out.  They also have enjoyed the sun, rain and temps.  If I can get past the swollen eyes, and perpetual dripping nose I may actually get out there and tackle the weeds!  

Now is a good time to pull the tender weeds  My husband is more inclined to weed whack or mow them down "they are green you know". But the weeds then continue to compete for nourishment with  the good plants that are there.  With just a little time and effort I can have this messy bed back to one of the prettiest places in the yard, but it probably won't be today!

I got to thinking about how we let the weeds in life choke out our beauty too.  The kindness, compassion, love and generosity is present within us yet we allow (or at least I do) anger, sadness, disappointment, worry and fear take hold and crowd out the beauty.  Why is it that we often give in to those weeds or just temporarily mow them down rather than make the extra effort to PULL THEM - rid ourselves of them, even though we know they aggressively come back?  Just like in gardening, dealing with our emotional weeds is hard, tiring and seems never ending.  If you are like me, it sometimes seems easier to just allow the weeds to take over - they are so strong and seem too hard to remove.  But thankfully the beauty usually wins out!  It may take a long time, it may look different once the weeds are pulled out, but it is so worth the effort.  When I finally tackle that weed bed I know there will be dirt, probably bugs, stickers and cracked hands. The result, however, will be a flower bed of fragrant blooms, favorite herbs and food for hummers and butterflies. Nourishment for sight and soul.  

That is how it goes with weeding our hearts too.  The hard part of getting started is so worth the result.  Pulling the weeds of things we let fester gives way to the beauty of peace, healing relationships and love.  I know I won't tackle that weed bed today - my puffy allergy eyes just can't take it quite yet.  So today I will tackle some more weeds in my emotional flower bed, looking for the beauty that I know is there.  What weed bed will you clean today?

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart".