on my knees in the garden of life

have i told you lately how much i love spring??  seems like everyday i walk outside and there is something new sprouting up from the ground. 

and just the other day i spotted these busy little honey bees on my grape hyacinths. 

but you want to know how i know that spring has officially sprung??  this guy.

his official name is lamium amplexicaule, but he is most commonly known as henbit.  and yes, i know that technically, he is a weed…but i don’t know – there is just something so sweet about those little purple flowers they way the almost stick their tongue out at you.

but as cute as this little guy is, i have to get rid of him.  i know that given half a chance, he’d take over my entire front flower bed and choke out all the shrubs and perennials i’ve spent the past five years tending and nurturing.  and you know, why wouldn’t he…that’s where the fertile ground is.  that’s where all the love goes.  so this morning after the rain stopped, i spent a few minutes on my hands and knees pulling up these little weeds where they had started cropping up along the perimeter of my garden. 

now i have to tell you, weeding is my least favorite part of gardening.  but there is a certain meditative aspect to it that i find soothing.  and so anyway i was pulling weeds and thinking about my life.  which i often think of like a garden…a little plot of land entrusted to me by my heavenly Father.  and those pesky weeds – well, because i am cradle-catholic, i’ve always tended to view them as sin.  but really, i suppose they could also be considered anything that threatens the good life that i am trying so hard to nurture.

i wish i could tell you that i had a weed-free garden.  i wish i could tell you that i am vigilant and diligent about weeding or have some other brilliant idea to keep weeds out.  but i’m not and i don’t.  i get busy, lazy, tired, distracted, apathetic.  i can always find a million reasons not to pull weeds.  but i can tell you that from personal experience, it is so much easier to keep up with weeds a little at a time.  because the times when i’ve let it go too long, it’s no longer a matter of pulling up a little weed here or there.  it becomes an all day affair usually involving a shovel and/or pitchfork.  and i kick myself for having let it get out of control, promising myself (and God) to do better.  which sometimes i’ll do for a while, but then something will happen and i’ll stop paying attention and this whole thing will start all over again.

the Good News about gardening and tackling my weed problems is that i have a Master Gardener who will come to my aid whenever i call.  a Divine friend with an endless supply of roundup, but who will never hesitate to get on His knees and help me pull weeds. a good and loving God, an ever-merciful God, who gives me an endless amount of do-overs so that I can have a beautiful garden.

and because of Him…because of His Love…because of His Mercy, i am able to truly experience the beauty and joy of spring.  and with hope, i look forward to the new-life that is waiting for me.

this easter season, i am wishing you the joy of spring and the hope of the new life that is possible because of  suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

peace, kelly