Lessons From My Lawn (Lesson #2)

Last week I started a series called “Lessons from My Lawn” where I talked a little about pulling weeds (destructive behaviors) from their proverbial roots, and today I want to talk a little about “weed identification.”

A few weeks ago, after spending plenty of hours weeding and mulching my yard, I took a minute to step back and marvel over what I had accomplished.  Rachel, who was bringing me a drink, came outside and looked over the yard and lovingly said;

“Looks great, but are you going to pull out that weed?”

“Weed?” —I defensively responded.  “Where?”

She proceeded to point out a weed that, to me, looked like a flower (This is why I try to focus on the lawn.)

With dripping skepticism I asked, “Are you sure that’s a weed?”

She blurted, “Yes, positive!” (Insert a “your an idiot” type of stare here —I get that a lot.)

After I pulled the weed, this small exchange made me start thinking about all the behaviors in my life that I think are flowers but are really weeds! Like, for example, busyness.  We live in a culture that models, celebrates and rewards busyness.  And I (we), in return, embrace busyness (having no margins) at the expense of my relationship with God, my children, Rachel, physical health, emotional balance and time of Sabbath.  Yet, if our society was looking at this particular weed in my life it would be celebrated like a prized rose bush.

Do you find that busyness is a weed that you nurture? Do you have any different weeds (destructive behaviors) in your life that look like flowers to others?

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10: 38-42

“Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them.”

Psalm 39:6

Hey kid, get off my lawn!

Do you like working on your lawn? How about in the garden? I don’t have a ton of hours to spend on my lawn, but I do really LOVE big open fields of green-green grass. I think my love of big open fields, of well manicured tall-fescue, comes from the first time my Pop-Pop took me to see the Philadelphia Phillies play at Veteran Stadium in 1978, I was 8 years old. I remember coming up through 400 level corridor leading out to our seats and seeing the field for the first time, I was in awe! As an 8 year old I had NEVER seen anything as big, green or beautiful. (yes, I know it’s not real grass.)

So, my lawn does not look as good as my neighbor’s lawn, (Yes, I will have a post about lawn envy) but it looks pretty darn good.  I actually yelled a neighborhood kid, for walking on my lawn, after planting grass seed last fall, “Hey kid, get off my lawn!” and Rachel has yet to let me forget that I actually said that…out-loud. (Yes, that will be a post too) I know, I know, —I am turning into a grumpy old man.

Anyway, that was a big set-up to say that through the rest of the spring and summer I will start posting random (not all posts will be on this topic) thoughts and “lessons from my lawn” (and Garden).

Lesson #1

However, lesson #1, which is fresh in my mind, has to do with weeds and mulch. I recently put out close to 70 bags of mulch around our property and, because I was in a hurry, I didn’t spend as much time getting all the weeds out before I put down the mulch.

Lesson #1: Covering up a weed with mulch doesn’t get rid of the weed! It may look good for a little while but the weed will grow back.  I try to cover up the weeds in my own life and they always grow back.  Getting rid of destructive behaviors and identifying self serving motives is hard work.  It means you have to get down to the root of the problem, and some roots go down deep. Are you covering up any behaviors up with mulch? Should you be trying to find the root? Ask God to help you identify the weeds in your life and to help you find the strength and courage to get to the root of them!

Deuteronomy 28 (The Message)

Deuteronomy 28

^1-6 If you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God, your God:

God’s blessing inside the city,
God’s blessing in the country;
God’s blessing on your children,
the crops of your land,
the young of your livestock,
the calves of your herds,
the lambs of your flocks.
God’s blessing on your basket and bread bowl;
God’s blessing in your coming in,
God’s blessing in your going out.

⁷ God will defeat your enemies who attack you. They’ll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads.

⁸ God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he’ll bless you in the land that God, your God, is giving you.

⁹ God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of God, your God, and live the way he has shown you.

¹⁰ All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of God and hold you in respectful awe.

^11-14 God will lavish you with good things: children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land, the land that God promised your ancestors that he would give you. God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend to many nations but you yourself won’t have to take out a loan. God will make you the head, not the tail; you’ll always be the top dog, never the bottom dog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you today. Don’t swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods.

Things Parents Say

Last night was one of those nights that all parents relate to. We ate dinner as a family, cleaned-up, brushed teeth, made bottles, changed diapers, put pajamas on, read the story of Esther, said our prayers and turned out the lights—X 6 children. Exhausted, I headed downstairs to make a cup of coffee and spend a few minutes of quality time with my beautiful bride.

That’s when it happened.

It usually starts subtly, with faint giggling and snickering, and it quickly escalates to the rapid cadence of little feet darting across the second floor, the sound of running water and the light rustling of Legos.  Some nights I have more patience and will walk back upstairs to “strongly encourage” my children to get some rest. However, last night was NOT one of those nights, and that’s when the words, at great volume, came out of my mouth, “Go to bed—NOW!” and my personal favorite, “Do NOT make me come up there!” And I realized, as I had feared all along, that I had turned into my mother!  Nooooooooooo!

I wonder, from time to time, what it was like for Mary and Joseph to parent Jesus? Do you think they need to ask Jesus to clean his room? Eat his vegetables? Stop teasing James? I can just hear James now, “…Moooooom—Daaaaaaaad, Jesus keeps on turning the toilet water into wine!”

So, this is what I would love. Please take a minute to write down, in the comments section below, a “parent saying” that your parents said to you when you were a kid? And, if you have used those words on your kids?

LIFE—PLAN!

Have you ever developed a personal life plan? I recently started working through Michael Hyatt’s FREE, Creating a Personal Life Plan, e-book and I am really challenged by it—in a good way.  Here are a few of the things that I really like about the book so far:

1. Michael does a great job at being personal with examples while, at the same time, not revealing too much personal information and making you feel uncomfortable.  I have read plenty of personal development books where the author is writing from the perspective (illusion) of having “arrived” or “mastered” the art of being human, and it makes the author comes across as inauthentic and insincere. Michael offers some really genuine and helpful examples of past success AND FAILURES that have taught him along the way! I found this very helpful!
2. The FREE download comes with a word document worksheet to help you work through your own Life Plan!
3. This FREE life plan e-book put’s God first! I love this. So much of the language around “life plans” is focused on “self” (for obvious reasons) that we often miss the most important part of our life… The God who gave us our life! There are even sections to put supporting Bible verses next to the corresponding life-plan “account”.
4. FREE. Did I mention that this resource is free? All you have to do is go to the link below and put in your email address and Whamo! Easy!

Here is the link!  http://michaelhyatt.com/life-plan

What did I miss? Do me a favor, after you go through the exercise tell me what your favorite part of the process was!