Month: August 2018

Named after the crab from the ocean because it has many stems. It holds up well to foot traffic, can grow in cracks of concrete and is drought tolerant. Just to name a few of the reasons this is such a hardy plant/weed. There are a few different kinds but they all infiltrate and permeate your entire yard.

I remember when I worked in the office for my in-laws lawn business we would have so many customers calling for help to get rid of crabgrass after they had tried everything to get rid of it. Most were willing to pay any price just to get rid of it.

I always wondered what the problem was and when I asked my ex father in-law he would just laugh and act like he couldn’t believe I didn’t see the problem. So I went along and scheduled many jobs for the people who wanted to get rid of it. You can’t just pull on one patch and think you are good, no you have to go through your entire  yard and pull all of it but then it just comes back. The jobs were big and even required a backhoe and fresh fill dirt. After they dug up the whole yard going deep to make sure they got all the roots they would put fresh dirt in then would plant the desired grass, plant or sod making a definite transformation for the better but the home owner wasn’t off the hock they had to be on top of it to make sure there yard stayed nice and crabgrass free.

I know I should probably write a book about life lessons from the garden but there are great examples in your yard/garden. I was talking with my mom who had a great thought on how crabgrass is like your pain or problems in life.

Just like the home owner that bought a house with someone else’s crabgrass problem, we can be born into someone else’s hurts and their pain then it becomes ours. We inherit the pain. Just like my children had grown up for most of their life in a violent house with an alcoholic father they now have the hurt given to them because their dad had pain he didn’t know how to deal with. All he felt was pain so what else could he have given?

Or the pain that is given to a child who is molested, a person that is raped or beaten. I could go on with the pain that is given out to innocent people.

They say the people who hurt people hurt the most themselves is so true. It is because of that crabgrass pain that can be the most difficult to deal with. It is someone else’s pain that became yours. I know that without help that pain wont really go away it might look like it but it’s still there just waiting for the new season so it can germinate and grow stronger.

I am thankful for people who are there to help us deal with our pain. I think God works through these wonderful souls. He is there just waiting to help take care of our crabgrass.

He is only a prayer away and will do the heavy backhoe work replacing the old with the new making a transformation for the better a new and wonderful crabgrass free life.

Psalm 34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was scrolling through Facebook, yes I do that a lot but as I was scrolling I stopped and was looking at a post of a very fast and very high roller-coaster that looked so incredibly fun I realized something that brought a tear to my eyes. I thought when was the last time I went on one?

I know it was a while ago, my kids were teens. It was our last real vacation together. I look back now realizing it was our last time together before growing and moving on. I think if I would have know that was our last one I would have relished it more. Maybe less complaining of my feet hurting or the heat and a little more enjoyment of the fact I had my teens happy to just be with me. We did enjoy the roller-coasters until the very end when we had to file out of the park with the last few remaining people as they closed for the day. With laughter filling the air as we walked to the car talking of our favorite things that happened or even at the long lines we waited in. We all had fun but didn’t realize it for what it was. For me it was the last time to ride on a roller-coaster and for my kids it was the last of their carefree childhood.

But

That’s just it we all have our last times, we all have the last hug or hand holding, the last time to tuck a little one in.The last time we see or kiss a loved one. The last day of work, or favorite pass time or maybe the last time we get to enjoy eating a favorite dish.It is never marked with fireworks or a goodbye party, instead it is always done in such a quiet way you didn’t know it was the last time until looking back.

Maybe because our last times are always in such a quiet way we should  make the most of each small little thing every day because you never know if it is your last time.

 

Psalm 90:10&12

10  Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

12  Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

 

If you have never heard of this weed that only means you are blessed to live in a place where other plants can grow well because the climate is either very nice or you have humidity. This plant thrives where nothing else does so for those of us that know this dreaded plant you understand the pain of having it over take your yard or the massive pain from stepping on one of the stickers that make walking on hot coals look like a piece of cake.

As this weed grows it spreads like an octopus and its tentacles. It blooms small yellow flowers and to the person that does not know this awful plant you would think it looks almost pretty but don’t be fooled that is where the thorn like no other will grow.

This thorn is in the shape of a goats heat with points on each end of the head. It can take down the strongest person and flatten the best of any bike tire.  My children learned to stay on the side-walk thanks to this plant but even then you aren’t a 100 percent safe.

I noticed this plant the other morning on my walk and thought where did that come from? I love weeding and thought I stayed on top of it but no I had one of the worst weeds to pull growing at the end of my drive way by the side-walk. I hadn’t noticed it before and knew that when I came home I would need to pull it.

I went to pull weeds because when you go to pull one you see all the little ones that are coming and I realized that goat-head I had pulled a few weeks ago but left some of the root. Now it was back bigger than ever with yellow flowers that will turn into thorns that will fall off harming everyone in its path.

That got me thinking again on our thoughts.

I have a certain thought that is just like that goat-head. I think I have dealt with it all seems fine but out of nowhere I feel hurt or have anger that comes out and I think what happened but its my goat-head that I have left part of its root and it began to grow even larger, if I don’t take care of it then it will grow some awful thorns that shed off harming others.

I have been slacking off with the weeding of my house and thoughts but I am sure I’m not alone.

 

Proverbs 4:23
” Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

 

“Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds. – Ritu Ghatourey

 

 

 

 

The other day I was on Facebook and laughed maybe a little to hard at something I read, it was “Well-behaved firstborn gave me the confidence to be a good mom. My wild child second kid taught me to not judge other mothers.” Ooh so true and funny, as a mom of a very well-behaved first-born daughter and a very lively second born son.  I read that and thought no truer words were ever written.

I was able to breathe, take breaks look nice and stay clean with my daughter, in fact I would look at other moms and wonder why they looked so exhausted. I felt like I had what it took to be a mom.

Then along came my son, everything was different. From pregnancy, birth and to now. Just how simple and easy my daughter was that is how challenging it was/is with my son. I can remember like it was yesterday the sheer and utter exhaustion I felt at just a week after I had him. I felt such a kindred spirit with those other moms. In the store we would give a knowing nod of “you got this” or “I feel your pain”. I now had such compassion for those other moms because I was now one of the walking dead. It was about a year after my son was born I finally was able to have both legs shaved at once. Things did get some easier but I learned never to judge another so harshly. You never know what someone is dealing with or the shoes they are walking in, and yes I did leave the house in unmatched shoes and one time instead of scrub bottoms my pajama bottoms but I found kindness and laughter I never knew.

My son turned my easygoing world upside down but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The joy, laughter and his energy is captivating. He has charisma that over flows from him. To an extent I have my son to thank that I am a better, definitely kinder, non judging person.

Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
1 Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

This picture from my daughter’s wedding says it all, I don’t even need to point out which one my son is.