Weeds in My Garden

I just finished weeding in the front garden....and oh my, what a sight....all that rain has been growing flowers...and lots and lots of prickly weeds....

God always seems to speak to me in the garden...and I am pretty sure it is because it is one the few things that I do, where I am not talking....I am quiet, so I can actually listen.

And I was pulling out these amazing weeds that were tall and mixed among the flowers as if they were supposed to be there. Some of them had half-way attractive purple flowers growing out of them....

But they weren't flowers, they were still weeds.

Pulling them out was really painful, even with rubber garden gloves on....but after awhile, I realized that the closer I got to the bottom of the weed, the fewer the prickles to poke me. It was almost as if the weed put its best effort at showing those thorns at the top and as far as the eye could see, to rather intimidate you NOT to pull it out...

And it is effective, let me tell you...a few grabs at the mid section of the plant makes you draw back your hand and wish you never touched it. Honestly, I stepped back with no other ideas of how to get them out...and thought, "They don't look so bad...."

But because I planted the flowers around those weeds, I know how beautiful they can be and I wanted to see them all....not their beauty stifled by a bunch of weeds that were not invited into my garden....

I wanted to see the vision I had for this garden in its full glory...

So I pulled and I pulled and after a while, God reminded me we had done this before, and I needed to, "Go to the root of it...." I separated and pulled away all the layers--like drawing back a curtain-- so I could see where the bottom of the plant began....and sure enough, there were not so many prickles....and the ones that were there were fine and weak and not so painful to pull....

Little by little, I began to see the beauty I remembered and so enjoy....

I think that sometimes, in our lives, we just don't realize what has overgrown in our hearts...what it is that is stifling our beauty, our heart, our potential....

And that is the beauty of the Holy Spirit....

He has the gift of teaching us to go deeper, to pull things out by the root, to discern the Truth....and to reveal, to reveal, to reveal....and that is simply amazing to me...

Funny thing about my flowers....some of them were actually using the tall weeds to support themselves....they were actually dependent on the weed and it was affecting the direction they grew. For due to the way the weed spread out so widely, it was actually getting in the way of my flowers growing straight. There was this spiral of growth to the side as the plant had to grow around the weed, becoming entangled as it tried to grow up....

I praise God for His Holy Spirit and for this object lesson of how important it is to let Him grow me, to weed me....even when it hurts....because it isn't without pain for Him...

He simply can't step back and say, "Well, it doesn't look so bad."

That would be outside of His nature.

He loves me enough to weed me because, you see.... He planted me, He has grown me, and He has this vision....and it is far more glorious than anything I could come up with...

A Princess Heart Ponders?

Welcome to "A Princess Heart Ponders!"

Last year I read a wonderful book by Nicole Johnson (Women of Faith). It was entitled "Keeping a Princess Heart in a Not-So-Fairytale World."

It inspired me.

I learned that as a daughter of the King, I have been given a princess heart...

Last summer, I taught a class at vacation Bible school called "Princesses." I challenged these young girls to recognize that if Jesus was their Savior...they had the heart of the truest princess...His princess.

And as I did, I wondered just how much I truly believed that for me? Did I act like a princess?

Did I believe my King like a princess? Did I rest in His protection?

He is still working on that with me.

But He is faithful...that I know.

I welcome your comments and your thoughts as I journey on...growing and showing a princess heart...totally sold out to my King.

Sick and Serve?

It is hard to put others first. It just is. Especially when you don't feel good. Especially when all you can do is hope for someone to take care of you...so when you are a mom of four little people who count on you, it is tough to get the flu...and still put others first.

"Mom, please can I have some more Gatorade?"
But I just sat down and the refrigerator is WAY over there...

"Momma can I just snuggle you... all I want to do is snuggle my momma!!! (wallow, wallow, wallow all over my lap)
Watch it, one inch closer to my stomach and you'll be flying off my lap as I dash to the bathroom!

"Honey, can you please help me move the Bowflex before you head to bed so the dry wallers don't drop more goop on it tomorrow when they mud in the basement."
Five minutes later and I would have been moving heavy objects under the influence of Nyquil!

Never mind the fact that my husband with a sore throat himself, a pulled neck muscle, and a full weekend of leading music....willingly, lovingly has made trips to the store for Tylenol, Gatorade, and ice cream. Last night, still not feeling great himself, he spent hours putting together a large piece of exercise equipment for me, designing this blog with love and LOTS of patience, and taking out the garbage in the freezing cold. And as I sit here warm here at home, he is driving my son to kindergarten so I don't have to.

I am blessed because someone has chosen to serve Him, by serving me.

And so it goes, no matter who we are, what our position is, how young, how old, how predispostioned we are...we are called to serve one another, to bless one another in His name...no matter what...even when we are sick.

When we dig deep...when we reach high...the heart of a servant shines through...the heart of a princess can be seen...even when she'd really rather stay in bed!