What Am I Growing?

After two years of drought, our yard was dead and was really more dirt than anything else.

And then the rains started coming.

So…I planted grass seed- just winter rye- so that we could have green instead of brown on the ground. And the rains kept coming. And coming. And coming. Just normal Texas weather- either drought or flood, take your pick. And the seeds germinated. And the seeds grew. And I finally had grass!

But then I noticed something. The grass seed was not the only thing that germinated. The weed seeds did the same thing. They must have been laying dormant in the ground, just waiting for the right conditions to sprout.

And this made me think. (There must be a spiritual analogy in everything.) The same conditions that made the ground fertile for the grass, also made it fertile for the weeds. How like life that is. Seeds germinate in the best conditions. ALL seeds. That is why we have to be very, VERY careful what kind of seeds are planted in our lives. Sometimes seeds of plants we never intended to grow in our lives blow in on the wind and settle in the soil of our heart and lie dormant just waiting for the right conditions.

If we are not careful and circumspect and mindful we will wind up with more “weeds” than “grass” in our lives. Not only do we have to be careful of what is growing in our lives, we also have to take the time to pull out the weeds that are growing as quickly as we see them, because the bigger they get the harder they are to pull.

And in honor of the lesson my backyard has taught me I wanted to share a poem that I did not write but that my kids learned many years to go.

HABITS

A habit is a sticky thing;

Much good or evil it can bring;

It binds a victim, holds him fast,

And keeps him in a vise-like grasp.

Bad habits grow with extra speed,

Much like a healthy, growing weed.

The roots grow deep, the stem grows stout;

How difficult to pull it out!

Good habits are a little slow;

They need a lot of care to grow;

If tended well, they grow more fair

Than any bloom a plant can bear.

Good habits help us all through life;

Bad habits bring us pain and strife;

Our habits, whether right or wrong,

Each day will grow more firm and strong.