By Josie Siler
I have a confession to make. I haven’t weeded my garden once this year. Oh, I’ve picked a weed here or there in passing, but it hasn’t had a proper weeding. Summer has completely gotten away from me, and now fall is making its voice heard in Wisconsin.
I missed summer. I missed it completely. I had a setback with my health, and one day turned into the next and before I knew it, summer was officially and unofficially over. I’m still asking myself how that happened.
Maybe you can relate. Maybe your summer got hijacked too and, like me, you’re wishing for a do-over. Here’s the hard truth, we don’t typically get do-overs. We will probably have another warm spell yet, but I won’t get to fully experience summer again until next year.
Is this a hard pill to swallow? Yes. But here’s the thing. I knew I was missing summer. I knew there was no quick fix for my health and what I needed was rest, treatment, and more rest. I knew I was doing what was best for me by taking a break from everything else, even writing.
Weeding the garden wasn’t even an option. Yet every day when I opened my curtains, I saw that mess of a flower bed in what used to be my glorious sitting rock garden. And do you know what I saw there?
I have a confession to make. I haven’t weeded my garden once this year. Oh, I’ve picked a weed here or there in passing, but it hasn’t had a proper weeding. Summer has completely gotten away from me, and now fall is making its voice heard in Wisconsin.
I missed summer. I missed it completely. I had a setback with my health, and one day turned into the next and before I knew it, summer was officially and unofficially over. I’m still asking myself how that happened.
Maybe you can relate. Maybe your summer got hijacked too and, like me, you’re wishing for a do-over. Here’s the hard truth, we don’t typically get do-overs. We will probably have another warm spell yet, but I won’t get to fully experience summer again until next year.
Is this a hard pill to swallow? Yes. But here’s the thing. I knew I was missing summer. I knew there was no quick fix for my health and what I needed was rest, treatment, and more rest. I knew I was doing what was best for me by taking a break from everything else, even writing.
Weeding the garden wasn’t even an option. Yet every day when I opened my curtains, I saw that mess of a flower bed in what used to be my glorious sitting rock garden. And do you know what I saw there?
Flowers.
That’s right. Growing up in the midst of the weeds were beautiful flower. Roses, lilies, monkey faces, irises, and even a few sunflowers the birds must have planted for me.
In the midst of the mess, there was beauty. Every day when I look at my mess of a garden and see beauty growing there, I’m reminded that life is a beautiful mess. Some seasons are messier than others, yet there is always beauty to be found if we’re looking for it.
This summer I chose to focus on the beauty of the flowers instead of the mess of the weeds and the ugly hordes of bugs which overtook my garden. If you’re in a hard season of life right now, I encourage you to keep your eyes focused on God and the truth found in His Word. Don’t allow the weeds of life to distract you and bring you down.
Isaiah 40:8 (NIV) reminds us, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” The flowers will soon fade and the grass growing in my garden will soon wither, and everything will be covered with snow. Spring will eventually come, and with it a fresh start. But we can have that fresh start now if we focus on Christ, who remains steadfast through every season of life.
That’s right. Growing up in the midst of the weeds were beautiful flower. Roses, lilies, monkey faces, irises, and even a few sunflowers the birds must have planted for me.
In the midst of the mess, there was beauty. Every day when I look at my mess of a garden and see beauty growing there, I’m reminded that life is a beautiful mess. Some seasons are messier than others, yet there is always beauty to be found if we’re looking for it.
This summer I chose to focus on the beauty of the flowers instead of the mess of the weeds and the ugly hordes of bugs which overtook my garden. If you’re in a hard season of life right now, I encourage you to keep your eyes focused on God and the truth found in His Word. Don’t allow the weeds of life to distract you and bring you down.
Isaiah 40:8 (NIV) reminds us, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” The flowers will soon fade and the grass growing in my garden will soon wither, and everything will be covered with snow. Spring will eventually come, and with it a fresh start. But we can have that fresh start now if we focus on Christ, who remains steadfast through every season of life.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ~John 1:1-5
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