Well, I eluded to the fact that I had been doing some yard work...and in the useless info about me I said I loved weeding...and trimming bushes and the like. Since we moved last year to a pretty blank slate of a lot, there really isn't much here for me to trim and not a whole lot of weeding, so I guess I let it 'slip' that I enjoy it and have been commissioned (does that imply that there is money involved? cus there ISN"T!) by a few friends to do their lawns. The first was because my dear friend, Julie, gets poison ivy simply by walking anywhere NEAR it (like a hundred feet away - no kidding)...her lawn was a joy. I had so much fun because I was able to go wild with my hedge trimmers. Then was the church. Didn't get that quite done, but made a huge dent in it. Then last week was Jim and Michelle. Thier house is beautiful and who knew how beautifully it was landscaped until last week! I had NO idea that their house had beautiful retaining walls, rock walls, bird feeders, pyramids with climbing something or other on it and so on. They were on vacation so it was my green light to go...oh, and as a bonus they have a great in ground pool that I used daily!
Now, I was there four days about four hours each day. I cut trees, weeded, trimmed and shaped hedges, found walls that didn't exist prior to uncovering them and so on. But in the process of "cleaning house" I made a MONUMENTAL mess. So much so that their dog sitter called them in NC to tell them that someone had come in and made a complete wreck of their yard leaving piles of crap everywhere! Our deal was I labor to "fix" and Jim will come home and clean/dispose of the debris. AWESOME! That is usually my deal with my friends. I work to make pretty and they haul it away (I hate that part - like putting stuff away...ya know - queen of unfinished projects...it is that part that I never get to...makes Eric CRAZY!) So as I worked, the piles got worse and worse to the point that I actually had to text them to warn Jim...really!
Well, as I was in the process the Lord spoke to me. I was looking at the piles around the entire yard...everywhere you looked there was a mess - literally. As I looked I thought, "They are going to get home and be shocked and dismayed at the mess...but once they haul it all away and uncover the beauty that I was finally able to see they will know it was well worth it". And that is when He spoke....He said, "Arrie...this mess you are seeing is how I work in your heart and in your life. I prune, and I prune some more. Occasionally I have to dig deep and pull up weeds by thier roots, and sometimes a huge clump of dirt comes up with it because the weed has been there so long. And sometimes....the weed has grown all over the beautiful shrubs of your heart and has nearly choked the life out of it, but I carefully unwind the weed, saving the good stuff and pull it up by the root. Sometimes I even need that pick-axe to unearth the root so it doesn't grow back. And if you JUST look at the pile of stuff we are cleaning out, it looks like quite a mess...and sometimes it IS quite a mess if we haven't "gardened" in a long time. BUT, once I haul away the bad stuff we have cleaned out, all that is left for us to gaze at is the beauty that is left in your heart and in your life. And if we do this "gardening" regularly, there will never be quite a mess like this because it will only need a weed here or there pulled and a slight prunning here or there. It is only when we go long periods of time without working together that we have a mess like this to contend with...but fear not. I am the Master Gardener. I will make leave beauty for ashes, eye candy for weeds and a heart and life full of beautiful life if you let Me work CONSISTENTLY in your heart's garden....just like Jim and Michelle have let you do".
So there you have it. My quest was to get this yard to be as beautiful as it was underneath all the overgrown mess and God's plan was to wait until my eyes were opened wide enough to allow Him to speak to my heart to explain the process we are going through right now....after my near three-year sabbatical away from Him and His loving work in my life...
So the work now is a bit harder...harder to see the beauty peeking through. But in time, the piles will be hauled away and the beauty will be more visable. And if I allow Him to REGULARLY work in my heart and life, it will be a less arduous project than right now...but fear not! He is the MASTER Gardener...maker of ALL things beautiful....
until next time...
