Blackberry Bushes and Weeds Remind Me of Sin...

There are two types of garden work that get me thinking about sin. Not about a specific sin, but more about the ongoing fight we have against it. Once or twice a year, I have to trim back the blackberries that border the back of our yard. I call the stuff my "moat" because it's almost as good as having a moat around the back; it keeps big nasty animals and nosy humans out of our yard for the most part, without having a fence that blocks the view of our nature preserve (sounds more wild than it is--it's just the wetland park in behind, beyond which is more neighborhood).
Anyway, I feel quite a little bit like Indiana Jones, getting a hold of these long (and I mean long, maybe 15 feet or so, which is triple my height) tendrils of blackberry vine, and whipping them back up the bank and into the yard, where I can chop them up and pack my yard waste bin chock full of them. In the process they occasionally snag whatever I'm wearing or leave little scratches on me in places. My feet get entangled in them and I have to be rather careful not to let them trip me up and win the battle! Afterward I always wash up, and feel so much better, if exhausted! So I think of the entanglements of sin (Hebrews 12:1), and how strong and thorny and snaggy they can be. Well, that wasn't the job that reminded me today. (That one's still to come soon.)
We also have a vegetable garden, which in spite of it being too unseasonably cold to plant useful vegetables yet, is quite hospitable to every variety of weeds. In fact, the dandelions that I find so charming a harbinger of spring in the fields and meadows are a danger flag to me in the back yard--that if I don't get to them in time, my yard will be overcome by virtue of just the slightest puffs of wind gently sailing the seeds to every available patch of land and crack of pavement that isn't otherwise taken. There are also beautiful little weeds that show off their cute little white flowers...right at their prime just now--and if we let those go just a wee bit longer, those darling flowers will have turned to evil little seed pods that pop open at the slightest touch, making even weeding them out into a not-too-helpful seed-planting festival. So both of those weeds are high priority for pulling. Today I got out there with my big shovel, loosening up the roots, some as thick as carrots, plucking them, and throwing them into a pile that would fill our yard waste bin about half full.
There are a lot more weeds, but I don't have the time to attend to them yet. They aren't threatening to multiply like those first two. They're problematic, too--can't plant my vegetables until they're pulled out, and some of them are huge clumps of grass; some are even baby trees and blackberry bushes. Some, such as the plantain, send out little roots in every direction so new weeds can grow attached to the mama plant. I can get to those later (well, maybe the word should be sooner), but I can't ignore them either!
So it is with sin. There are some that want to go to seed. They can even look charming on the surface. When they go to seed, they plant themselves in the hearts of others with whom the sinner is influential, and plant and do their work unless they're weeded out. The attack on them is high priority for the protection of other believers. There are some others that grow big, so that virtues can't grow there instead and produce fruit. There are some with roots that would go deep, and entangle the innards to death or pop out in other places with new baby problems that result from the first one. At any rate, they're all rather urgent to deal with.
There may be new weeds that we never saw before in our neighborhood, that we never thought we'd be troubled with taking root in us. We ought to deal with those right away, because they might be stronger than we expect. There may be seasons where many different kinds seem to be plentiful. We have to use necessary tools to help us, such as Scriptures and the accountability and prayer that trusted friends can provide. Just as using children's plastic gardening tools won't be useful in attacking the weeds in my garden, sweet little poems and sayings that aren't Scripture won't help much in the fight against sin--we need the real thing, the Scriptures that remind us about going to confess our sins to God for forgiveness (1 John 1:9) and about the consequences of sin (James 1:13-15) and about the evil intents of Satan (John 10:10). We may get dirty, tired, and out of breath in the process, but then we can go to Christ and show Him what we've been dealing with and thank Him for His help. He can wash us clean, and make us all fresh and new, like a great hot and soapy shower (Psalm 51:7); and He'll rejoice with us (Zeph 3:17) at the clean new soil where good fruitful plantings can now take hold.
Yesterday as I was weeding (and I still have another day's worth at least!), I found a further stretch to take this talk--I would turn over a shovelful of earth, and find weeds that I had hidden in my haste to loosen the soil the time before. The weeds were not only still alive and green, but thriving and growing, hidden away, where they were not easily found--and eventually they would have been very hard to remove as their already strong roots would have become even stronger. Just as with weeds, it doesn't pay to hide our sins away; tear them out! Uproot them! Expose them to the light of God's healing word, to His forgiveness, to His correction. It isn't as if He doesn't know about them anyway; we needn't fear His condemnation, but instead seek His loving forgiveness, help and instruction. He is absolutely our best ally in killing the sins that so easily deceive and entangle; without His help we can do nothing in this fight.

Spring is Coming, Projects Beckon!

There's something about the time of year that determines my energy level. For the months after Christmas, it seems to drop--and this year I don't think it's because the holidays were so exhausting; I restrained my shopping like never before, and kept everything at a quieter pace. It's something about the wet, the cold, the wind that (even though we don't necessarily subject ourselves to it much) affects my outlook and subdues the force of my attack on projects. (Maybe it's also that the early months are the season in which I do our taxes, which are finally finished!) Spring is springing, the green is a little greener (not so brown and tamped down), and the brown is a little greener (the little buds in the trees). Things are coming to life, and I'm feeling much more motivated to paint and clean and sort and get rid of stuff.
Gary used to go on trips for a week every month with his work. When he was gone, I'd often attack a project and see how much of it could be done before he returned. It was good to have something to do, and to get something accomplished, and to have a time frame to encapsulate it. Now our church has a team of people going on a missions trip. I'm using that as my time frame, seeing what can be done while they're gone.
Last night I pulled some paint in from the garage, and started repainting our entry. Amazing how much a little paint makes things look better, covering barely noticeable marks and the plaster repair jobs at the corners! I'm resolving to paint as much of the house as I can in the next few weeks. Most rooms need it to one extent or another. That should keep me out of mischief and focused for a while. Don't stand still at our house, or you might end up with a coat of paint!
I've developed a to-do list with three columns, one for me, one for Gary, and one for us to work on together. (I guess I'm a list person. I also have a to-do list in a tiny binder, with one page for each room.) Now Gary is no longer safe. If he's horizontal, reading a paper (generally a horrible waste of time and energy), I will roust him with a project, if possible. If not, I'll threaten to paint him. Ha!
When the projects are done, we intend to sell the house and move into something smaller, something that doesn't need so much maintenance, so we can focus on more meaningful things than painting walls and the like. Maybe the housing market will improve. Our neighbor's house has been languishing on the market for months, and they keep dropping the price to no avail. Still, even if we have to sell for less than we want, we will buy for comparably cheaper as well. In spite of wanting to sell, another project to make progress on in these coming weeks is planting our vegetable garden. Never mind that we may never be able to harvest the good things that grow there. It calls as the spring grasses rise, the weeds claim their corners, the trees need pruning, and the compost beckons for stirring into the more useless Marysville soil. The ground is waiting, and I must work it.

A Corkscrew Encouragement

When I was preparing for Thanksgiving, I got some flowers from Costco for a centerpiece. The hardest part was gathering a container and some oasis, the foam stuff that holds the flowers in place, from the garage. The flowers were really pretty cheerful, complete with a branch of little peppers and some corkscrew willow branches. You would think they would all last forever, they looked alive, except the branches, which looked lifeless.
Here a couple of weeks later, though, the flowers were fading and the little peppers had shriveled. The surprising thing was that the seemingly dead branches were starting to sprout tiny green leaves--and when I pulled the arrangement apart to compost it, I found that the branches had even developed little roots! I now have four new corkscrew willows in the making, sitting over my sink. I hope they make it to the more temperate spring weather so I can plant them outside.
I love corkscrew willows. We had one in front of our house when I was a teenager. Even though it always dropped little branches all over the yard, it was my favorite tree we ever had. A couple of silver thaws tore it apart more or less, but it recovered and it was always pretty. I've always wanted one. Now I have four!
You find promise sometimes in the least promising places--and sometimes the places where you might have the highest expectations, the biggest disappointments occur, as would have happened if I expected those pretty flowers to take root and last as plants--they sure seemed more lively than the branches, but how deceptive that was! Actually, I'll have to find recipients for the other three trees. I only need one, especially now that I know the branches can start new plants so well. If you want one, you just have to stop by and get it! And allow some time to have some coffee and visit a while.