This weekend as David and I were working ( ok, it wasn’t like REAL work)  in the yard, I noticed something that just flat out annoyed me – weeds.  Neither of us inherited the “green thumbs” that our parents have. We finally admitted failure and decided to hire a company to help our yard have grass about a year ago. The pursuit of a grassy yard seems like a simple thing, right?

It is sooooo incredibly hot outside right now. Southern heat is like a hot, sticky convection oven, mixed with the humidity of a steam room and blowing, hot wind. I realize that under these conditions, grass dies. It needs water, in addition to the junk we are paying people to dump on our “grass”. Do you know what seems to flourish in our yard? Stinkin’ weeds ( they don’t actually stink, I’m just mad…). In between the crevices and in our flower beds, where the flowers are wilted, we have huge, blooming, THRIVING weeds.

Have you ever heard the phrase, ” The grass is greener on the other side”. I heard a great rebuttal to this argument years ago, “The grass is greenest where it’s taken care of”.  Weeds just find a way to survive and thrive- they don’t need much help.  I started thinking about how this really applies to every area of my life; my marriage, friendships, health, and spiritual life. The enemy is always looking for a window or a crevice to get into my life, and yours. When I water myself with the word of God, fellowship with other believers, worship, and pray, the weeds in my life stay pretty small and the good things that God wants to do in me flourish.When I allow the Living Water of Christ to nourish my soul, His goodness flows out to the things around me. I can skip and neglect a few days and guess what I am? I am weedy and NEEDY. It’s just not pretty. I get my eyes focused on the wrong things, like anxiety and fear,  and I am struggling. Why? Because just like the grass in my yard, I need nourishment in a really dry world.

Today, I want to encourage you to apply some “weed killer” to your inner soul. Give it a good dose of the word of God. Shower it with songs of praise. Let it shine with words to our Heavenly Father through prayer and thanksgiving. I want my life to be a green, grassy pasture that appeals to the weedy things in this world.                                                                        Courtnay Aycock