Weeds ...Friend or Foe?

Weeds…. Friend or Foe?

After being away from home for several weeks I came home to flower beds in sore need of my attention. The weeds had grown and flourished in my absence. So, I put my big girl gardening panties on and spent each morning for a week out in the yard – weeding. NOT, my favorite thing to do. Due to my MS I am very heat sensitive and can only be outside when the sun is not directly on me. So, I have from 6:30 to 9:10 each morning to accomplish great things – ha!

With only my pups for company I have a lot of time to ponder and reflect while I am weeding. My mind is filled with thoughts of things I have recently read, on my daughters and grandsons, my hubby and just life in general. It is amazing what the Spirit can teach you when the world around you is quiet and you can actually listen.

As I crawled along in the dirt , patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) separating the flowers from the weeds, I found myself pondering the creation story in Genesis and Moses: Moses 4:23-25 “And unto Adam, I, the Lord God, said: ….cursed shall be the ground for thy sake; in sorry shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until thou shalt return unto the ground…..”

Well, I had the “sweat of thy face” part down pat – I was pouring sweat off my head like a sprinkler! However, I found as I mopped my face with my sleeve that I didn’t mind this as much as I usually do, these weeds were a reminder to me that I live in a fallen world. I don't belong here and yearn for my Father in Heavens home. Being here on this earth is a temporary part of my journey to immortality and eternal life. I am here but a short time to obtain a physical body and develop Christ-like attributes and characteristics. It is my opportunity to learn about myself and become the best me that I can be. Brad Wilcox states in his book Changed Through His Grace: “… in our pre-earth life our Father could have simply given us enough grace and strength to perfect us instantly. This would have made obtaining a body and life on earth completely unnecessary. God would never have put us through mortality if He could have accomplished the same purpose by giving us an immortal body instantly and spiritual maturity with a wave of His hand.”  However, it is through the struggles that we learn to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is through the hardships and difficulties that we learn to rely on God and develop our spiritual maturity. It is the daily practicing, repenting and learning that causes the gospel teachings to “sink in deep and become a part of who we really are.” Our personal transformation is never something we can do for ourselves no matter how long we practice – it is the divine help, feedback, direction and mentoring we receive along the way that makes ultimate perfection possible. And just like the weeds in my garden, those imperfections and frailties must continually be attended to, weeded and rooted out while nurturing and feeding the flowers.

So I began to talk to each little weed and thank them for teaching me this morning of a plan far greater than I – a plan wherein my Father in Heaven loves me beyond measure and has provided me with all of the tools I need to make it back to live with him. And if I will but endure – perhaps I will be able to spend time in his celestial gardens and find the much needed peace and joy we are promised.

Grandchildren - The Keepers of my Heart

I love summer - it means my grandsons get to come visit and we get to play and oh what a marvelous time we have. This month it was boating, hiking, beaching, snuggling, train rides and more. I was exhausted at the end of each day - but oh so happy.

Why is it that we are able to relax and enjoy our grandchildren easier than we ever could with our own children? I have spent a great deal of time pondering this and I decided the main reason for me is that I am just too tired to keep up with everything so I prioritize on the fun stuff and let the rest go! Instead of running around like a crazy person I sit back and enjoy those two boys. Now, don't get me wrong, I still have OCD's aplenty and find myself doing laundry several times a day (they only needed one outfit really as it was washed and ready for the next day before I went to bed)... and I did tidy the house and start the dishwasher before calling it a day. But I am not at all as particular as I was when raising my 2 daughters, in those days everything had to be perfect! My daughters tease me to this day about telling them to "clean up that mess and find something to do" or "you can only have one toy out at a time" (which makes Legos hard to play with) or "put your toys away in their proper home (I organized everything in "families" including how you load the dishwasher) ... ok even I think I sound like a crazy person. BUT, in my defense our home was always clean and ready for company - even though none of my friends wanted to come over because my clean home made them uncomfortable!

So back to the grandsons, with them I just want to snuggle and play and enjoy every second I get with them. My heart is happy when I am with them.The material things in life matter less. My family matters most. With age comes the realization of your own mortality and the fact that you are not going to be around forever. Relationships and family become top of the list - which is where they should have been to begin with. But we get  caught up in living life - as hectic as it is - and before we know it our kids are grown and out of the house living hectic lives of their own. Don't get me wrong, we are busy doing good things - but we keep ourselves busier than God ever intended. We forget to slow down and smell the roses - in fact we don't even notice that there are roses! I see children being kept so busy they don't have time to just play and be kids. My husbands best memories from his childhood are the countless hours he spent roaming the mountainside with his buddies. When the grandsons are here he loves nothing more than to work in the garden with them teaching them how to plant trees and dig weeds or relive his childhood by taking them out to roam the hills looking for fossils and cool rocks.

My goal for the rest of the year is to slow down, enjoy more fully the beautiful world we live in, spend more time with my kids and worry less about the things that don't matter. It is in our unhurried moments that we can see more clearly and hear what God wants us to hear. He loves us so much, but we are often so busy with life that we don't even hear what he has to say. I know that my life is better when God is in the details - without his guidance and direction I can't make it where I need to go. And more than anything I want my sweet grandsons to know that for themselves. I want them to know how to focus on God and to recognize his voice. I can't teach them something I don't do myself.

Lessons from Uncle Jerry

I love my Uncle Jerry so much – and miss him every day. Through the power of example he taught me so many things and I try each day to be just a little bit like him! I feel his presence still as he sends his love and support from heaven – ever working in behalf of others.

·         Jerry had a child-like love for the Lord and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. He trusted and believed in all that we are taught about a loving and compassionate Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ.

·         Jerry loved me and my little family with his whole heart – unconditionally. No matter what drama or dysfunctional chaos came with me – when I showed up at his door I was always welcome, always loved.

·         Jerry handled life with a sense of humor beyond compare. I could always count on him to lift my spirits and make me laugh. Jerry was fun to be around!

·         Jerry didn’t judge – he just didn’t do it. His compassion and kindness towards others was endless.

·         Jerry was one of the hardest working people I know. He could work circles around everyone. He never stopped – even if he didn’t feel like it he would do it.

·         Jerry did the hard stuff! He did things that were difficult for him and he wasn’t too crazy about; but he did them anyway no matter how difficult it was. He was not a quitter – he was a doer! If we could all live our life just a little bit like Jerry, be more loving like Jerry, more obedient like Jerry… the world would be a much better place!

      1 Timothy 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Puzzles, Poop and Plugs!

I love puzzles! I always have. But they have come to mean even more to me the past 5 years as I have been retired (reluctantly) and have so much more time on my hands. Working on a puzzle has become a quiet time when I am taught by the spirit as I ponder things I have studied and talk to my Heavenly Father about everything in my heart. As I was meticulously preparing my 1000 piece puzzle this morning, separating the straight edges and turning over the others, (because doing a puzzle without painstakingly preparing first is an exercise in chaos and confusion...anyone that has worked on a puzzle with me knows I am pretty strict about this step) my mind was flooded with the following thoughts: Do I take just as much time meticulously preparing myself spiritually to face each day? Am I just as obsessed (OCD #210) about everything being in perfect order in my spiritual life as I am about my puzzles? Am I doing the prep work of reading my scriptures and praying so the Lord can be a part of my day? Am I reading from uplifting books so the spirit has something to instruct and teach me with? Am I properly prioritizing my day? Where do I place my importance?

Where does the poop come in? (aren't you glad I didn't include a picture of that) .. when you have 2 dogs it is impossible to enjoy your yard if you haven’t committed to scooping the poop every morning. Is it a fun job – NOPE. However, if I didn’t take the time to do it – my yard would be so unpleasant that I would never spend time out there. (not to mention my neighbors wouldn’t like me very much due to the horrendous odor permeating from my yard). Therefore, I don’t have a problem with that daily task. Just like my daily scooping makes my yard a delightful place to be – my daily routine of communing with my Father in Heaven and personal study insures my days are more enjoyable and full of peace. And when things don't go as expected (as is often the case) I am more spiritually prepared to handle what life throws at me!

Now for the plug – as I sat down to type my thoughts on my laptop I noticed that the battery power showed almost dead. That was strange as I had just taken it off the charger! Much to my surprise I found that the power cord was NOT plugged into the wall. A lot of good it did my battery to be plugged in all night to a power cord not drawing any power. Another thought came to mind: How can I expect to draw power from my Father in Heaven if I am not “plugged” in? My daily devotion to my Father in Heaven through prayer and scripture study, through service and good works is part of my divine connection - it is what charges me and prepares me to face each day. This is a crazy and wicked world in which we live. If I hope to be resistant against the evil workings of the adversary then I must be willing to surrender my will to my Father in Heaven. I must be willing to do all that is required to have his spirit with me. Thank heavens that every day is a new day for me to learn to meticulously organize and prepare myself to face the day. Thank heavens the Lord is patient and continues to extend his arm towards me in patience and love. Thank heavens the spirit is willing and able to teach me through the small and simple things that I can understand like puzzles, poop and plugs!

John 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.