A Gardener............

Imagine your back yard and in one corner of the yard is a huge garden filled and overrun with weeds. You know you need to take care of that garden, but you also know it’s going to take a lot of work. But then you remember you have a big John Deer lawnmower. You can just use that to plow down every weed. So that’s what you do. You hop on the John Deere, plow down the weeds, wipe your hands, pat yourself on the back and say job well done. Sure the weeds will grow back, but you can just mow them down again.

Then your eye spots another garden in your yard. Not as big as the first, but also filled with tall weeds. Well, I’ll just use the lawnmower again, you think to yourself. So you walk toward the garden to assess the situation, and then you notice there’s already a gardener there. This gardener is working slowly and carefully. He yanks out by hand each tall weed and deposits them in a trash pile that’s growing taller. Well, that’s going to take a long time, you think to yourself. Let me tell him about my lawnmower. You slowly walk toward the garden, and as you draw closer, you notice beautiful flowers, hidden by the weeds. The gardener sees you and beckons for you to join Him. You stop. You have a choice. Do you join the gardener in tending the garden, or do you insist that you use the John Deere?

Relationships are like gardens............. parents and children... neighbors... church friends.... marriages... siblings....etc.   
God is saying  Let me be the Gardener of your relationships. Let’s try my gentle ways. I will help you uncover the precious treasures there.

Which Gardner are you? Are you  just plowing through, trying your own methods of fixing things, and leaving decimation in its wake. Not to mention your repairs are just temporary.
Or are you the gardener that takes his time .... gently sorting through the garden ... pulling only the weeds... giving room for the flowers to grow tall and strong?  
Or maybe you're the gardener that has several gardens that you treat differently.   Some you care for ... some you plow right over just to move on.   Are there gardens in your life that you tend to with more work and love than others?   

Talk honestly with God in prayer about your relationships. If you see that you are using the John Deere method of gardening...... confess this sin to God and ask Him to be the Gardener!

hugs... love... & blessings...

.::Tam::.