Weeds

When we came to town three years ago in the spring on our house hunting trip we fell in love with this house.  At the time  nothing was in bloom and I remember thinking how those terraces out front would make a nice place for some perennials.  Imagine my surprise when we came back in July to move in and everything was in full bloom.  Roses of all colors and sizes and all sorts of flowers I could not identify.  I've always been terrible at identifying any kind of plant... well, except poison ivy, but that's a whole different blog.  It was beautiful, but out of control.  I've learned it takes awhile for things to bloom in the Spring here, but when they do they grow fast and wild.

The next year I was away from March to October hiking the AT, so I didn't even see the garden.  Last summer I was gone through the beginning of blooming season and came home at the first of July.  By that time the garden had gone wild.  I knew I needed to do some weeding and get control, but I really had no idea what was a weed and what was a flower.  I did what I thought was a good idea, I asked the experts.  The local garden club had a tent set up at the farmers market.  I approached a couple of nice ladies, explained my situation...  new to the area, unfamiliar with... yadda, yadda, yadda.  Their advice was 'if you think it's pretty, keep it'.

Hmmm....  I had plants coming in that I didn't know whether I would like or not when they bloomed.  So I just let everything grow and waited to see what happened.  Pretty quick I figured out what thistles were and decided I did not like them.  There was this one vine that had a lovely white flower, something like a morning glory, but not quite.  Before I knew it this vine was climbing up roses, smothering out other plants and flowers.   I did more research and learned that it was a bindweed.  And it had taken over my garden!  I tried and tried to pull it out but by this time it was all over everything.  Since it was a vine, I couldn't find where the roots started.  I spent an incredible amount of time pulling and yanking the stuff out, but never got ahead of it.

This summer I had my chance to beat it.  As soon as plants began popping through the soil I watched closely for the first signs of this horrible weed.  When I saw the little things beginning their evil (yes, evil) twinning up out of the ground, I would take a hold of the plant close to the ground and try to pull it out, root and all.   Sometimes I would get the root.  Sometimes I would break off and I knew I'd have to keep an eye on that area because it would show back up again.  I worked diligently... for awhile.  Then summer came, backpacking trips, hikes, all the fun stuff that always kills my gardening efforts, and I let the garden slip out of my mind for a couple weeks.  When I got back to it, sure enough, there it was working it's way up the other plants.  My early efforts had helped some, but still, this plant is relentless.  I can't drop my guard at all. 

One morning I was plucking away and it hit me how much this plant is like life.  When a sin takes over our lives it takes diligence, real determination to keep it weeded out.  When I first was researching what was okay to be in my garden the advice I got was really very flippant 'if it's pretty, keep it'.  Lots of sins are pretty... at first.  That is how we get drawn in to them after all.  But before we know it they're out of control, twisting up the rest of our lives, taking over. 

First lesson I see here is to be careful from whom you get advice..  Those ladies at the garden club hadn't even seen my garden.  I'm sure they were just trying to be helpful, but they didn't really know anything about the garden they were giving advice for.  I would have done better getting a really good gardening book.  There are all sorts of people out there ready to give great life advice, but you might do better to go to a really good book about life...  or maybe go to the Author of the Book.  He's really the only one who can tell you how to recognize and get rid of that weed...  or sin.

 

 I know this well.  A few weeks ago I finished a Bible Study with friends.  I put down my bible and haven't cracked it open since.  Prayer... right, maybe to find my lost keys.  And my life, slowly winding out of control.  For me it's relationships.  Ordinary relationships that usually are very good, healthy, God honoring relationships, but slowly sin begins to work it's way into them.  Gossip, irritation with others, conversations that aren't giving grace to anyone.  It takes diligence, picking them out by the roots, examining closely the direction each relationship has taken.  Going back to my Bible and spending time with God and getting direction from the one who really knows my life and knows what needs to be weeded out. 

My garden is clearly no where near perfect yet, but there are some gorgeous flowers blooming.  My life is even farther from perfect, but every now and then I get a little glimpse of what maybe God is working toward in me.  And I think it's going to be pretty awesome when He's done.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  Ephesians 5:8 - 11

Trail Journal

Updated the Trail Journal if you have any interest...

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=320259

Random thoughts

I lay in bed at the end of the night and often create posts for this blog, but they never make it to the computer in the morning.  I mostly blame my computer.  It's dying a slow painful death and it's just not worth the battle to try to be creative on it.  But today I thought I'd post a few random thoughts.

I'm slowly working on updating my Trail Journal.  I've got one more post and I'll share the link.  I have had some great opportunities to get out and enjoy the amazing outdoors of Colorado.  I am longing one day to be able to go on a backpacking trip that isn't controlled by time constraints and others schedules.  To be able to hike at my own pace, stop and enjoy God's creation when I want to.  I might have to dig up enough courage to backpack alone to be able to find what I'm looking for.

I've been feeling a need for a cleanse.  The last couple of weeks I've fallen into a fog on several levels, but the worst is spiritually.  There's just a lot of muck in my life.  So this morning I read through Ephesians and am planning to start an in depth personal study.  Just the quick read through was very challenging, starting with I am a child of Light and I should be walking accordingly.  Not sure I've been doing that.

I've also been painting.  I have the deep desire to one day be able to call myself an Artist and feel completely confident in the statement.  It's been so long since I've really set aside time to develop my creative abilities.  But I wonder if I'm trying to force it.  Something I read this morning in Ephesians was about knowing His calling...  is Art His calling for me?  or is it just about me?  Still working this all through in my head.  Ultimately what I really want is to find where God wants me to be... and not waste time on a random rabbit trail of life.

As I said... just random thoughts.

Proud of my Dad....

Still here

Wow, time flew fast.  I'm still here.  A couple of weeks ago we began a full swing of company.  It's the Spring Snowboarding/Skiing season and the guestroom is booked for about six weeks solid.  I LOVE THAT!  ...but it can be a little tiring, so I'm glad we have one week open here in the middle.  I've got this week to myself and I'm trying to decide what to do with it.  Maybe I'll take part of the time to post thoughts about the past few weeks.  More to come... 

one month

I started posting daily on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and managed to keep it going until the Sunday after Christmas. 

Now it's time to decide what I want to do next. 

I'll get back to you.

The day after...

Really?  Has it just been one day since Christmas?  I hate that anticlimactic feeling of the day after.  It's the same with any big event, activity, project... holiday.  I look forward to them so much, even with the pressure and stress, I love the excitement of something fun that is coming.  

Then it's over. 

All that's left is to clean up.  I read this morning on someone status that their neighbor had already put the Christmas tree out on the curb for pick up.  I can understand that, especially for someone who decorated early in November.  I'd be really sick of the decoration clutter by now.  Since we aren't planning to have a New Years gathering I'll begin slowly putting things away over the next week.  It's time to move on.

Christmas Day

I grew up with the tradition of reading the Christmas story from Luke 2, then a feeding frenzy of opening presents.  Greg and I kept the story tradition but decided to pass on the frenzy part.  It is hard when you're getting all this stuff to keep remembering what is being celebrated.

When the kids were little we decided to limit the Christmas presents to three...  because 'Jesus got three presents'.  For several years we kept the presents specific, one toy, one artistic/musical and one educational.  That has somewhat slipped away as they've gotten older, but we still try to stick with just three gifts.  And there is no frenzy!  One gift at a time and watching each other unwrap.

I do miss the joy of having children open presents.  Truth is, now we have so much, nothing is really a surprise anymore.  Not that I'm not grateful and very happy with the paraffin wax bath my family gave me...  VERY thrilled.  But there is a special joy of sharing that time with a child.  It almost works with golden retrievers.  They are thrilled to be allowed to rip up wrapping paper and find a new toy inside.  And the toy lasts just about as long as a toy given to a small child.  =0)  Christmas with grown children is a new and different season of life.

We also don't do the big Christmas dinner thing.  I feel like I've been eating since Thanksgiving!  Instead I make a good breakfast after gifts are exchanged and we spend the day chilling out playing with our new toys and making phone calls to grandparents.  Then for dinner a simple pasta meal.  A quiet, peaceful day.  Not every year works out this way, but this one was nice.

We do have another tradition for the holiday season.  A few years ago the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies began coming out in theaters during Christmas and we were always the first in line.  After the third one finished we felt lost... what do we do now?  We began watching the DVDs a little at a time during the week between Christmas and New Years.  One disc at a time... the Director's Cut.  Takes about the whole week to fit it all in.  This evening we started with the first disc.  Great movie, great story, great cast... though my favorite is still Legolas. 

Now Christmas has come and gone, but the celebrating continues for another week.  Greg will only work for a couple days this week because of New Years.  I'm going to continue posting daily until New Years day.  Might as well, I'm on a roll!

Christmas Eve

Almost forgot to post!

Great, quiet and peaceful day.

This evening we went to the zoo to see Zoolights.

Saw it last year and decided it was a good tradition to continue.

I'll write more tomorrow, but it's late, so for now....

Merry Christmas!

Finally!

I started this blog off in January with the statement that this year I would be turning 50 years old. Today was the day. Finally, made it to the top of the hill. I started to say it was a long hike, but the truth is it really didn't seem that long. I guess as they say, when you're having fun...

I've never really dreaded birthdays. I've heard people talk about how they had a hard time with turning a certain age. Seems like to me it's better to get older than not... really! Fifty does seem pretty old though when you say it as a number like that. It is half a century!

I've had several friends who I truly respect and admire go 'over the hill' ahead of me. They've scouted it out and tell me it's okay. Some of the best conversations I have are with those ladies. There is something about living a little life that gives the freedom to be transparent and real with others. I just crave the opportunities to share life with friends in that way.

There are also those on the journey ahead of me that have shown me that age does not limit accomplishments. When Lydia and I hiked the Appalachian Trail last year we walked with our friend Soaring (trail name) who at the time was 58. She is the strongest, fastest hiker I have ever walked with. This year she went back alone and completed the sections we missed. Age makes no difference.

So tomorrow I begin the second half of my life here on earth. There are so many opportunities I haven't gotten around to yet, so many places I still need to see, friends to be made, so many mountains to climb... Now, what to do first...