Dandelion

Walking through a yard you glance down and a white puffy flower catches your attention. Do you feel compelled to pick the seed pod and blow on it, hopeful to see the seeds dance through the air? Perhaps you see a weed in a yard you care for and the last thing you want is to see those seeds spread. Then your brain goes straight to extermination hoping to halt the invasion right there on the spot.

Weeds tend to be hearty, tough, invasive plants and they don’t always play well with other plants.  Weeds are plants that compete with (and sometimes overpower) those a gardener hopes and intends to cultivate.  Therefore, depending on the purpose of the garden, lot of plants could be weeds.  

I’ve been in ministry for a long time and over the years I’ve watched quite a few really great people leave the places they were planted coming to difficult conclusions that they were weeds. I’ve seen many of those gardens become more tame and less fruitful.  There’s nothing wrong with a good veggie garden but we shouldn’t forget that wild gardens flourished long before humanity began its own cultivation.  The weed, it seems, is defined by the purpose of the garden and when that garden becomes less fruitful we should revisit that purpose!  

“So the eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you,” or in turn, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” Instead, the parts of the body that people think are the weakest are the most necessary.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭CEB

As school years begin, I remember my own first days worrying about first impressions and finding my niche.  It’s hard when you know you’re not “normal,” (which, by the way, describes all of us) and I always appreciated those teachers who brought classes toward understanding that truth from the beginning.  While it’s easy to gravitate toward uniformity, a community that cultivates wholeness in its diversity will be much more fruitful in the long run.

Plants:  Be confident in who God is continually creating you to be.  The world is better when you are more you.

Gardens: Cultivate God’s Kingdom even if it’s harder.