Lawn Wars

Do you ever have lawn wars at your house? By that I mean arguments about how high the lawn mower should be set.  I am a little embarrassed to admit that Brad and I have had more than one “discussion” about that and other trivialities of yard work.

I like the grass a little on the taller side even if it means mowing twice a week. Brad, on the other hand, wants the mower set on 2 inches, nice and short.  Admittedly, over the years, at times it has been a struggle to even get the yard mowed at all.

I’m still humiliated about the time Shandi and Chris, who did our patio and sidewalks, came by for an estimate. We were in the midst of spring planting and many evening activities for me and the boys, and our grass was in desperate need of attention. However, no one had time to sit on our little mower for 4+ hours.  The grass must have been over 6 inches tall. And we were showing it to professional landscapers!

Oh my.

And then there are the battles over dandelions. Poor Brad, who tries to make his wife happy, has often put the little sprayer on the 4 wheeler and waited patiently for a very early morning that wasn’t too windy so he could kill the weeds in the grass, but nothing else, before spending another 13 hours farming.

Sometimes I am very hard to please.  And unreasonable.  I’m going to do better, honey.

We have a bigger John Deere now that allows me to zip around and finish the job in around 2 hours, so when I mow, the grass is higher and gets it more often. One day earlier this spring, I was flying back and forth on the mower, lamenting our yard full of dandelions when God prompted me to change my perspective.

I love flowers, so why couldn’t I learn to love dandelions?  

I got out my camera and snapped a close-up of one of the hundreds in our front yard. Guess what? It was beautiful!

This began one of my great blessings of the last few weeks. I’ve been on a quest to really NOTICE the beauty and variety of flowers of all shapes and sizes, especially their centers.  Each one is a little miracle and a testament to the creativity of the Great Creator.

And all of these little beauties reminded me that for all the beauty of nature, mankind was God’s ultimate creation.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness……God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1: 26a, 31a

Isn't that something?

Each one of us is created in God’s image. There is something at the center of each of us that points to the Creator.

Let’s consider this…..

Think of:  

the nicest person you know-

                                                God is nicer.

The funniest person you know-

                                                God is funnier.

The best artist-

                                                God is more artistic.

The best singer-

                                                God’s voice is better.

The friendliest person-

                                                God is friendlier.

The most empathetic-

                                                God understands each person completely.

The most beautiful-

                                                God is more beautiful.

The best mathematician-

                                                God invented math.

The smartest scientist-

                                                God invented scientific principles.

The best doctor-

                                                God is the Great Physician.

The most loving person you know-

                                                God IS love.

The most joyful, grace-filled, self-controlled, peaceful, patient, faithful, gentle person we know,

               

Can’t even come close to the character of God.

And this is just the beginning.

If we could make a composite of the best character traits of all of us, and multiply them by infinity, perhaps we begin to get a glimpse of our Heavenly Father.

When our boot camp here on earth is finished, those of us who are Christ followers will get to spend eternity in relationship with HIM. And we will be transformed into the people we were created to be. 

It is going to be AMAZING!

Let’s change our perspective and take our eyes off the inevitable flaws in those who cross our paths in this fallen world. Instead, let’s look for the beauty in all of God’s creation. 

Including you and me.

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