I want to be a weed...

My favorite favorite moment is when I wake up early on an off day, walk in the kitchen and start the coffee. I can hear it percolating and the aroma fills the room. I get out my mug, I love a good mug, and my creamer and pour my first warm cup. I get the mug right up to my face and let the steam cover me. In that moment I am the perfect bouncing curled hair, fresh faced, white robed, granite countertop, perfectly clean kitchen woman in the Folger's commercial. Unfortunately after the steam goes away I realize that I have to go to the bathroom and I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Turns out, I'm not the Folger's lady....at all. I have my highlighted-root showing hair in a bun, my left I eye is matted together with mascara from the day before, my left cheek has acne cream on it, I have on David's t-shirt and granny panties, and I have a small not so granite countertop that is currently being occupied by fishing lures and hooks. Either way, it's still my favorite moment. I love to sit in my rocking chair on the porch and drink my coffee. I love the sound of birds chirping and the smell of fresh cut grass. It's such a beautiful time of day that a lot of people miss. I read a lot when I'm on the porch. It's my God time. I can just relax and talk with Him. Yes, my neighbors think I talk to myself but oh well....who's to say I don't. :) A couple of weeks ago I was siting on the porch and I got distracted by the not perfectly cut grass, pollen covered porch, and the weeds in the flower beds....I was starting to get a little irritated. My lack of being the Folger's commercial lady was starting to make David the not so Home Depot commercial guy. Why do we expect so much? Why do we compare ourselves to an overly done advertisement? We all do it. We live in a photoshopped, perfect world where we all remain disappointed with ourselves over unattainable expectations. I decided to just take a deep breath and not pick up my phone to tell my husband that he should be doing yard work instead of fishing. He is enjoying his day with no desire to be the Home Depot commercial guy. This was my issue, not his, so I just sat there and continued to breathe in the fresh Spring air. God took that moment....

Grass...the grass is tall. But you know what? It's early Spring. It's just living proof that He can turn the dead to life. Embrace it...we were all dead before we found the love of Christ. We should be so grateful that we serve a God who can pull us up and bring us to life to matter where we have journeyed or how far to the left we've wandered. After a cold season why would God bring us back to life? Because of His undying love for us and His ability to see our true self beneath the cold walls that we allow the world to create around us. 

Pollen....after we become Christians and the newness wears off, after we leave a conference and the excitement wears off, don't we always long for that all covering joy and excitement for God to come back? Don't we all wish that we could stay so covered up in Him that our every action would be to glorify Him? Of course we do....we all want to please Him, we just get lost in day to day struggles and brush Him off. Just like this pollen covered porch, I long to be it, so covered in His love that you can't see  the old me-the human me. 

And the weeds...oh they annoy the stew out of me. But why? I used to always think that God has us all as identical pieces of bark placed neatly in a flower bed....that's what Christianity looked like to me. But that's not it at all. Not a single one of us are alike, not a single one of us came from the same journey. We are the weeds. We are the ones sticking up in a world of people conforming to commercials and reality TV. It's funny how different weeds can be....some are patches of clovers that attract tons of people and spread like wild fire. Some are just barely sprouting but their growth is noticed, their progress can be seen by all. And some are stand alone flowers. They are so beautiful and everyone can see their beauty from a far. They have blossomed  and they create an atmosphere of beauty that others are attracted to. 

In my moment of total distraction, God spoke. 

In a moment that could have caused me to yell at my husband and spend my whole day cleaning and pulling weeds, I was able to breathe in the beauty of the mess. His ability to calm us during a moment of distress, no matter how small, amazes me. Allowing our mind to refocus on Him is the hardest part, but once we do, it's amazing what He can show us. We are not perfect people in perfect houses with perfectly manicured yards. We are not perfectly laid bark in a flower bed. We all have different gifts and talents, we are all a part of His ministry through what ever stage of development we are in, we all have been brought to life by a God who covers us in His love. We are weeds, breaking through the bark to shine Gods love to an all too conforming world. We are the weeds....and we should want to be weeds.