Devotion 283 - Weeders

I have always wanted to be one of those moms that bring Jesus, brings scripture and brings prayer into every situation.

I have always wanted to be one of those moms that see her children as Jesus sees them even when they embarrass me.

I have always wanted to be one of those working moms who can leave work at work and be completely engaged with my family the moment I get home.

The fact is;  I am none of these moms.

Summer has begun and with it a more relaxed schedule.  I want to give my children freedom but electronics beg for their minds and their time.  So every morning we create a bit of a schedule.  We have lots of fun, yes, but chores and reading inevitably appear on the schedule as well.

The summer skies had brought lots of rain and thus weeding seemed like the perfect chore.  Both my middle children frowned when they saw the schedule on the counter and then the begging began.  They offered every possible alternative to pulling weeds as I prepared breakfast, so I waxed philosophically about weeds.

I said something quasi spiritual about ridding our lives of sin as they would be ridding the flower beds of weeds.  More frowns.  This was my moment perhaps the only moment in my week I wasn’t commanding but teaching.  I asked chore that didn’t involve beautifying our yard.  The fact was however I wanted them to see something bigger than mud and weeds, to see their hearts and lives in worship.

Later that day, I got home and the beds looked beautiful.  I could see bag after bag of weeds lined up in the garage.  Job well done I thought.  I applauded their efforts as we sat down to dinner.  My daughter sheepishly said she had a gift for me.  I chided saying the clean beds were more than enough gift, but she insisted. 

She slid a small slip of paper to me and quietly said she had written a devotion.   This was a first that I knew of and I was sure I knew the subject,  sin and weeds, it had to be. 

I was wrong. 

I had been so focused on the finish,  the end of the list, the completion of the chore, the sin out of the ground, I hadn’t thought of the chore ‘doers’, the ‘weeders’.  She had.  The condition of the heart, the spirit was not my focus, but it was hers.

I read.

The weed

“Ouch!  Why do I have to do this?” groaned Maggie as she helped her mom pull weeds.  “I wish I could be like Tessa and be rich and not do chores.”

“Tessa Delport is only rich in one thing – money.”  Said Mom as she stopped working her weed.

“Hello Mom, that’s all you can be rich in” Maggie said.

“No” said Mom, “You can be rich in other things like love, kindness and blessings.”

“I never thought about it that way,” Maggie said.  “I guess that’s why she doesn’t look happy when she comes to school.”

“Well, why don’t we pray for her?”said Mom.

“Okay,” Maggie said as she got up. 

PS. She was also very happy to have a break from weeding.

Romans 5:8  “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners.”

Isaiah 64:5  “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”  

We are never a finished work Beloved.  When we pull a weed, it grows back.  When we commit a sin and repent, it’s only a matter of time before the enemy plants another seed and another temptation. 

The enemy tells us we are not a good parent.  He tells us it’s the finish that matters.  The Father tells us He is the good parent, to watch Him work and He reminds us it is not the Finish, it is the Process.  It is every weed, every storm, every sunshine, He works through.  He is molding our hearts, creating our purpose, beautifying our messes and pointing us to Him.

My daughter saw it before me and she opened my eyes.  It is the weeder, her heart, her mind and her hands; it is not the weeds.