Having spent some time the last few days up at Mike's parents house, we were there when his brother came in for a visit with his family. His oldest daughter has a daughter of her own, the two year old named Allie you see admiring a flower in the picture.I spent some time with this precious little squirt today. She spent the first 20 minutes or so being told to stop, settle down, and the infamous word "no".
Bless her heart, Aunt "Jefinner" (as she calls me, still struggling with the name Jennifer at times) just couldn't stand watching that pouty face anymore, so we went for a little walk. Of course I grabbed my camera... my addiction to taking photos couldn't resist the opportunity for possible photo ops.
We walked hand in hand across the grass to the edge of the yard where the woods met up with the freshly cut grass, when she exclaimed how pretty the flowers were. I started to tell her those weren't Mamaw's flowers, just weeds Papaw missed when mowing... but as I sat down on the grass in front of her my mind did its thing, and there I sat watching her pick and admire each and every "weed" as the thoughts rolled in...
I'm a thankful weed. I know what a mess I was when I was living without the Lord in my life. If I had been a plant in someone's yard, I would've been one of those ragged looking things that appear when the grass begins to grow back after a fresh mow. You know, those first annoying things that seem to grow overnight after a hard day of work on the yard. They have prickly edges, some itch when you pick them, and they certainly lack the beauty that a typical green-thumb wants in their garden.
But then something happens. While gathering nourishment from the soil its seed was planted in, a bloom begins. From what started out as an ugly growth, blossomed a beautiful flower out of the weed. Sometimes there are thorns sticking out of the stem's side, but those can be trimmed away, and the bloom still looks lovely placed in a vase.
Paul had a thorn in his side, and yet he was an incredible vessel the Lord used. I was a weed, but my bud has bloomed. The Lord is little by little removing the thorns hanging from my stems. The weeds my niece picked for me today were put together as a lovely little bouquet handed over with humble love. Ah yes, the things that can be realized from a walk with a two year old.
