Weeding.

Yes, lessons from weeding.

Remember this post?

Well, I am sad to say, that newfound love for gardening didn’t last.  We had more snow and coldness, and then when it warmed up 2 months later I didn’t really do much.

Okay, okay, you caught me. I didn’t do a blessed thing with my yard.

Nope.

<Insert Lame Excuses here>

Mostly I think I just forgot that this is something I now enjoy doing.  Old habits die hard.  Last year’s lesson of What Happens to Yards Left Unattended is being repeated.

That strawberry garden I’d weeded out completely?

Yyyyyyyyyyeah.

But then Wednesday/Thursday I saw my Grandma and Grandpa from Idaho and they inspired me.  Grandma Shelly, specifically, said something about people working until it feels like work, and then giving up.

<insert determination>

Dagnabit, I will NOT be one of those!  Even if I am at heart!  I feel like Scrooge,

“I’ll change!  I’ll chaaaaaaaaaaaaange!”

So here are a few of the things I thought about while I was busy repenting in the sunshine Thursday:

1) Work is easiest when you put yourself aside, buckle down, and do it.

Pretend there is no other option.  It’s pretty easy to stop complaining -even inside your own head- when you just make up your mind to do it even if you don’t want to.

2) Weeding can be symbolic of a million different things.

No, really!  It wasn’t all that sun getting to me, it wasn’t!  You’ve got to think about something while you’re digging around, other than wishing you hadn’t lost the gardening glove for your right hand.  -grrr-

In March when I spend that week out in the gorgeous weather, I was pretty much thinking, “Wow!  This is fun! Who’da’ thought?”

This time around I wasn’t quite so joyful, so my mind got to thinking about something other than what I was doing.

Symbols

The garden became my children’s minds — the strawberries, desired fruit of knowledge and strong moral character.  The weeds, undesirable activities & habits.  (Headgates concept, in a different form.) How much easier is it, to get weeds out when they’re small and have no roots?  Those blasted morning glories were intertwined all through those berry vines.  (GAH!!!!)  It took forever to carefully untangle things, trying not to hurt the berries… Symbolic of so many things.

[soapbox warning!]

The garden became our public school system.  Not that I want to offend anyone, so forgive me if you have your head in a hole and think it’s wonderful, but from my perspective, the American public school system leaves much to be desired.  It’s even worse off that that weed-filled garden; it’s a crying shame, and some serious “weeding” is needed.  We have well-meaning and talented “gardeners” trying their best, we have talented and amazing children surviving the system, but neither one of them have the tools or the environment they need.  I feel like the “solutions” the bureaucracy is trying to pump into the system are simply like fertilizer on weeds.

We need to till the whole thing under and CHANGE the system.  It’s a miracle anyone comes out of it with any spark of creativity or passion for learning at all.  I have more to say on the subject, but I shall refrain.

[soapbox over]

The garden became my own life.  The berries are Christ-like characteristics.  The weeds are desires that aren’t in keeping with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  So many distractions, so many bad habits, so many stupid things “I want…” that really don’t matter.  The weeds haven’t completely killed off those berries, but they are definitely in the way, and it sure feels great to notice them and dig them out!

What do you think about when you’re working?

If you’re a guy, the answer is probably, “Um, work.”  Oh, to be so focused…

There were lots of other analogies.  They came so fast I couldn’t keep up with them, let alone remember them now.  I thought about grabbing a notebook & writing, but I’m pretty easily distracted and was kind of afraid to stop.  So I didn’t, even though I was tempted to quit as soon as it felt like work.  (hahaha)

And now all that green stuff is just strawberries! Yay!!!

Roots

The best kind of weeding gets at the roots.  I’m going to be paying for it later, I know, but the strawberry garden got pretty shallow treatment this time around.  It took so long to detangle things, I just didn’t have the time or desire to dig.  Besides, I like to think it’ll be easier to get the roots now that we can at least see the ground again.

Duly Noted

In the past, when it comes to dealing with The Elephant, I’d been giving our house the same, shallow, just-pull-off-the-tops-cuz-it’s-easier treatment.  I’d “clean” and shuffle things around and do half-hearted purges.  The roots connecting me to stuff and driving me to fill in those empty spaces were still quite strong until I -
(a) found a real, consuming desire – a reason to overcome this stupid addiction/sickness (my kids NEED a beautiful environment & a happy mom),
(b) started trying to attack THE problem (selfishness -too much stuff- and fear -how can I live w/o too much stuff?), and
(c) stopped focusing at its symptoms (clutter).

So I’m working at it.  Things are gradually improving – more and more quickly the faster I uproot old habits, mindsets, and desires.  I’m grateful that the areas I’ve really conquered are staying conquered.  The other areas… well…

We’ve still got some weeds to yank (laziness, procrastination, and occasional hopelessness, to name a few) — Those roots run deep — but it feels good to get it out.

And…

-assuming I manage not to forget again-

THIS year we WILL have a garden.

And a clean house too.