Waiting vs. Waiting

I have written that I have done a bit more blooming than blogging this summer. While that is true, I maybe have not shared the "whole" story. (Does that sound like a little child caught in a lie, or what?!) Really, I have some amazing blooms to share, I just wonder if I would have had more, had I taken care of a few weeds sooner.

Now, I do know that there are blooms that come despite the weeds. They are resilient, colorful, and, many times... common. Then there are blooms that are breathtaking. They live in a nicely kept garden. The soil seems to be worked...free of weeds, watered precisely and freshly airated. It really is quite beautiful. The impact and beauty stays with the Beholder for the longest time.

I have thought about the things that have been "weeds" to me this summer...weeds that can only be taken care of by getting down on my hands and knees and pulling them out by the root. I hesitate to even tell you the weeds, because I do not want my telling to feed them even more. But, then again, my telling may help others "identify" that very weed in their "garden of blooms".

There are a few things that pop up in my "real time" gardens. I am so excited to see green, I let it stay awhile, until I can identify if it is weed or not. If I were more experienced, I would know a lot sooner whether to let it grow or go. This summer, I seemed to be addressing the same weed, over and over.

This particular weed never got super tall, it just seemed to be everywhere! eerrggghh.

In asking my "Master Gardener" about this, it was brought to light, that instead of dealing with the first "sighting" agressively (hands and knees, pulling out by the root), I wanted to be rid of it quickly, with little effort, so I reved up the ol' lawn mower and cut it off. Of course by doing this, I did get rid of the appearance, for a time, but the root was still there AND I had scattered the seeds.

"The weed?" you ask.

"Self pity." I answer, embarrassed.

Oh, it starts off simple enough. I start thinking about the things I am waiting for the Lord to do. The list is long, (but not as long as ALL the things He has done already...this is Miracle Grow to my hope)! And, instead of resting in the waiting, I start thinking, "Oh, I have been waiting long." And it just goes from there! The appropriate response to the first thought should always be, "Thank you Lord for what you are doing. I do not see, but I trust you. You are good. You are kind. You are faithful." And it can go from there!

So, there were a few sad bits this summer...waiting on Jackson to get better, waiting on our adoption to happen, waiting for certain things with YWAM-Charlotte to "take off", waiting for things to go the way that I think they should go (oh Lord, forgive me...).

The big lesson for me...I need to stop waiting on these things to happen, and be wholly waiting on the Lord Himself.

Sweet, Sweet Lord, you have been so patient with me. May my "blooms", and the garden I tend, bring you glory.