Monday, May 22, 2017

Four Things I Learned While Transforming My Yard

Messy makes us uncomfortable.

We hide it.

Ignore it.

Cover it.

We walk around it hoping it won’t touch us as we pass by. We close our eyes or look at something else.

The first thing Adam and Eve did after they hid from God was cover themselves. Jesus came to free us from having to cover anything, essentially He has it covered.

Recently, as I took a visual scan of my yard the messy overgrowth was pronounced. I had been looking at these messy places for two years, so why did I see it now? I believe God allows us to see things at the perfect time for Him to show up and change us. He had prepared me for months to see it and do something about it.



The foundation had been laid and I was ready to do what needed to be done to transform my yard, little did I know the Lord was about to teach me some valuable lessons as I got my hands dirty, dripped with sweat, bled from thorny vines and scratched late into the night with chigger bites. Although, the process wasn't pretty the results are breathtaking. Much like my messes that I have hidden, in my heart or a dark corner of my room, He invited me to participate with Him to clean-up these areas, one at a time, creating something beautiful.

He has made everything beautiful in its time.
 Ecclesiastes 3:11

Four things I learned while transforming my yard:

1. When God is about to do something He will usually ask you to uncover something.

He knows everything, but our Father is relational, so He wants us to dialog with Him about our messes and struggles. If we listen He will usually uncover things that we don’t see that will free us.

2. Covered things make us feel safe and scared all at the same time.

If we can’t see it we don’t have to deal with it is the motto we sometimes follow when we are overwhelmed by any kind of mess. Not knowing the extent of the mess makes us feel safe because we don’t have to deal with it and terrified because we don’t know what we are dealing with.

3. Uncovering a mess leads to transformation.

When we decide to tackle the mess we almost always feel better afterwards. Sometimes we even discover something amazing lying just beneath the surface. Whether it is a physical mess or relational mess it takes courage, determination and sheer hard work to clean it up. If I we commit to the process we are always changed on the other side. If we have a behavior that is not serving us well, we just might discover a better part of us when we address it.

4. Sometimes a mess is hiding something beautiful.

When there is a big mess and we can’t see what’s underneath our default is fear which leads to avoidance. If we face that fear and tackle the mess the rewards can be amazing.

I tackled the messy areas of my yard and I found a flagstone pathway and peonies (which are one of my favorite flowers). It took about 40 hours of my son and I’s hard work but we did it. We cleaned up a mess, uncovered beautiful things and transformed our yard.



I took this picture with the table in it, so you can see how close this beautiful walkway was to where we spend a lot of time. Amazing what we miss when we won't look at or tackle our messes. I have had a flagstone pathway for two years and didn't know it. What treasures have you yet to discover?

As I ventured into this unknown area I learned a great deal about myself, my son and God. God always uses something tangible to teach and show me what He is doing in my life. He is walking right beside me as I tackle these messes and He is there beaming with pride when I uncover the beauty underneath.

Our Savior didn’t die and live again for us to stay covered. He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, so that we might be uncovered before Him to live victorious.

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