Yardwork. Blech.

I'm on a mission to get our front beds cleaned up and mulched properly. It's a piece meal job, because 1) it's really hot outside and 2) I have to do it in spurts so that Noah doesn't spend any, or very little, time in the heat because of his skin. But, folks, let's face it. I am NOT my mom. She could work outside in the yard all day long, and be perfectly happy. Now, while I don't mind the work part, I come back inside sneezy and covered in little red bumps because my over-achieving immune system thinks it has to bully up on every little speck of nature that hits my skin. HowEVER, the results of yardwork are so rewarding. Getting an area cleaned up and attractive to look at is a pleasure. Taking something from uncontrolled to pleasant creates this relaxed, peaceful feeling. You know, the world around one's pretty things outside takes over in a blink of an eye.... flower beds around the house will be nothing but weeds in a week's time if proper care isn't taken first. Good weeding, laying down the black weed cloth stuff, covering it in mulch. It's work, it requires some sacrifice of time and energy, and it requires some investment of both money and sweat. It's a lot like our lives. The Holy Spirit may clean out our heart, but unless we keep our life, mind, and heart clean, weeded, and mulched, the weeds of the world WILL come back in. In fact, I bet I'll still have to go out there and weed those beds from time to time, even WITH all the work that I put into it. Walking with Christ is not a couch potato sport. It is an active, daily pursuit. This certainly isn't the first time this analogy has made, mind you. But it's the first time that it has really hit home, because I'm in the middle of the job. Maybe yardwork isn't so blech after all.