Today was a beautiful Sunday, and after church, I decided to hit my front flower beds full force. My mother is a master gardener and can make a twig from the 1800s blossom in a matter of weeks. My plants, on the other hand are only green because they are evergreens or are silk--for the most part : ) BUT I do love planting, and I love working outside in the yard. There's just something so satisfying about it--I find that it's therapeutic. Today I found that especially true. As the warm sunshine heated my back and neck, I stooped over in front of my neglected ground cover to unravel the mass of clover that was intertwined with all my little plants...and I started to feel God's message for my blog unraveling with the clover...and these are the lessons I believe I'm to share:
Tips about reaping a harvest in the flower beds of life:
1. It's dirty work--you will sweat, grunt, get blisters, and have an aching body at the end of the day
2. It takes time--as much as I wanted a quick fix for my clover issue, I knew I didn't have a magic weed killer that would remove the intruder immediately without killing my precious plant underneath. I also know that I'm going to have to spend at least another couple of days invested in doing the exact thing I did today.
3. Get to the root of your problems--if you just pulled the foliage off the clover, you would never end your weed problem--you've got to get to the root--because it is intertwined underneath and trying to strangle the roots of your plant--BUT when you do pull up that weed's root, the foliage that you see from the surface comes out with it naturally.
4. Be proactive--if I had taken measures to prevent the clover, it wouldn't be there.
5. Be diligent--if I had taken the time just a little each week to pull a weed here, spray a weed there, I would never have had the mess of clover I had today.
6. Focus on the end result--I know what I want my flower beds to look like, and I keep working towards that vision.
7. It's worth it! When I finally stood up and stepped back from the afternoon's work, cleaned up the mess, I took pride in what I saw, and loved that I could see my vision taking shape.
Gen. 2:15 says, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." The Garden of Eden was God's promised land on earth. Even in a land where God's provision was bountiful, our purpose in it was to work and take care of it. I truly feel like where we are in life can be our promised land on earth if we work it and take care of it. In my Thirty-One business, my "garden" consists of my family, my Customers, my Hostesses, my team, my Thirty-One "sisters", and those who cross my path on a daily basis. There's work to be done in our promised land. In order for us to enjoy the provisions of God's blessings, we have to do our part, and I BELIEVE the bounteous rewards will be beyond our imaginations--not just on earth, but in His eternal kingdom!
Yes, even amongst weeds, there are lessons to be learned--because God is fully capable of immediately producing blossoms and beauty, but what we learn and who we become as "gardeners in life" just might be more beautiful than the flowers we seek to grow.
Praying this week that the "weeds" that have been threatening to choke you will be pulled up by their roots and the beautiful growth potential of the plant beneath will peek through once again!
Blessings and love,
Jennifer
