The Weeds and the Flowers...such is life

Sometimes I like weeding in my garden. It gives me the joy of absorbing the glory of God all over every flower.

                                                                                      

Here is a dwarf butterfly bush blooming. I love it, although it is a little weedy-looking.

And this is a dwarf hibiscus.  Lots of enormous, delicate, beautiful flowers. The petals look like tissue paper. And each blossom only stays for a couple days. A gorgeous and poignant reminder of the brevity of life.

So I love to be around these beauties, even if the reason is because I'm weeding. Even if I should have weeded many weeks ago.

Look at this king weed (not a proper name). Incidentally, the weeds are not going to get links. They have enough advantages. :-) How did I not notice this monster? Or this guy.

                                                                                

Or this!

It's not really that I didn't notice them. Sometimes it was that I was too busy to get out there and pull those things. 

As I weed, I am reminded of how important focus is. I can think about God's gorgeous gift of flowers of enormous variety and how the greatness of God is mirrored in His creation. 

Or I can bemoan the fact that I did not get to the weeds earlier and that they've gotten so big and invasive. I could even do worse and criticize myself for letting them grow so wild or decide that I should just resign myself to not being a very good gardener. Or I could sink into self-pity that I don't have more time to devote to gardening. No, I must not do any of these things.

Instead, may my focus be on God and His glory. May I block those negative thoughts with prayers of thanksgiving and praise for the gift of creation.

And may I apply the same principle to my life. There are weeds. And there is plentiful beauty, grace, and blessings. Let's focus on the blessings.

Thanks be to God. He is so good.