Weekend Thoughts: Growing a Garden

I’m trying to cultivate my garden so I did a lot of weeding this past week.  And as I did I found there are two ways to weed.  You can pick each individual weed out by hand, or you can whack them all with a hoe.   Both are effective and appropriate methods for weeding.

But, each has an appropriate time and place.  In my old garden which was empty of any vegetation except for weeds, the hoe was the method of choice.  I was able to whack out those weeds in about 25 min.



But in my flower beds, I had to take a different approach.  If I whacked, I would have killed the plants right along with the  weeds.  And what good would that be?



Another thing I got to think about while weeding (much more then I would have liked), is how to go about disciplining my children.  When I catch my older two spreading sand throughout the yard like "mulch," in spite of our consistent instruction to keep all sand in the sandbox, let's just say it's easy to overreact.  It's true there are times in life that sin needs to be cleaned right out, fast and furiously, kinda like weeding with a hoe.  It's true that intentional disobedience is a sin that dishonors our God, more so then it dishonors the parents (Ephesians 6:1).  But the truth is, only Jesus can make this happen.  Only he can wash us clean and make us new.

And thankfully, more often then not He is gentle.  He's using me as a parent to, "train them up in the way they should go".  We aren't supposed to overreact.  My children are a garden full of weeds but, I trust that inside those gardens the Lord has planted beautiful flowers that I would like to see bloom.  A hoe is not the right tool.  I can help to guide, correct, and discipline them.  But, I gotta tread carefully.  I need to get down on my knees (in prayer) and on their eye level and I need to speak with them calmly.  I need to point out their sinful behavior, explain why it is wrong, and walk them through processing how to better handle the situation.   I need to not only point out what is wrong, I need to teach them what the proper behavior is.  And sometimes they need to face consequences.  Because sin has consequence.  But they need it explained to them.  The goal is to give them the tool to know when they have done wrong, to know whats a weed and whats a flower. Punishment isn’t as effective as discipline.

I pray that someday, when I look at my children, I'll see a beautiful garden.

How about you? What’s been on your mind this week? Read something in a Bible study that got you thinking?  Heard a song lyric that touched your heart?  Realized something about yourself that maybe you hadn’t thought of before?  Have a great “aha” moment?   Please share.  I’d love to sit and have a heart to heart with you dear friend.  And thanks to this world wide web, I can.  So do tell, either by linking up below or posting a comment.   I’d love to hear your thoughts this weekend.

1) Muthering Heights
2) Erin @ Closing Time
3) Everyday Becky
4) Home Grown Strawberries
5) The Train to Crazy