Lessons from the garden...

I had the day off at both jobs....so I stayed home most of the day and got to work with Dad in our 50'x50' garden. It's beautiful! He's worked so hard on it since before school was even out (he teaches 4th grade on the Mescalero Apache reservation). We're gonna have more squash, melons, peas, onions, and potatoes than we'll know what to do with!

Anyway...so I spent some time pulling weeds today. We're trying to grow it all organically, so no weed-killer allowed - which means that we spend plenty of time pulling the sneaky little things up! Some of them were actually quite pretty...green topped leaves with red-purple undersides.

As I pecked at the damp soil with my mud-crusted fingers, getting as many of the little ones as I could....I thought about two things:

1)Weeds, no matter how big or small, consume space and nutrients needed by the garden plants. If the garden is to bear fruit as the gardener intends, the plants must have room to grow and adaquate nutrients. The weeds must be pulled. What in my life needs to be weeded out?

2)Dad has set up a system of soaker hoses until we can afford to put in drip irrigation. One thing is certain.....weeds love to grow right underneath the hose. It's wet and protected, I guess....and that's where I found most of them. You can't say, "Oh! Weeds like water....so we'll stop watering the garden!" The garden would die. The water is necessary...thus the hoses are necessary. But when weeding, it's good to check underneath the hose often and well....pull the weeds while they're still small.

There are good things set in place in my life - disciplines, routines. But it's important to look under the surface of these things - to check for little things that might be growing that could be harmful in the future. Pride, fear, and works-based salvation (a very sneaky weed, that one)...things like that. This requires attention...time....care...and lots of grace.