Poop and Weeds Wednesday Thursday - the one in which I post a picture of my dog's...

In case you haven't been reading my blog for long... this is Poop and Weeds Wednesday...

Yes, I know it's not Wednesday.

You see, I rarely (as it turns out) actually post this weekly series on a Wednesday. The alliteration just sounded good. And that accompanied my good intentions at the beginning of sharing these thoughts, when I really believed I would post them on Wednesdays.

...You know... Because I forgot that I have a life and a 4 month old and a .... (fill in the blank) that interrupts me on a hundred-time-per-day basis. Oh, and I get distracted sometimes too.

Anyway, back to the point.

Last year I was inspired one summer afternoon to attack the weeds in my back-yard and somewhere in the midst of sweat and dirt, God started speaking to me about His Kingdom. The verses in Mark chapter 4 came to my mind and I dropped my dirty gloves in light of inspiration that had to be written.

After I wrote out this little 10 part devotional, I stashed it in a drawer and forgot about it for about a year. When I found it shortly after Danny was born, I decided to share it.

So here you go. It's Part 7 of...

Thank You God for Poop and Weeds

Mark 4:3-20

"Listen. What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed... Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled among the weeds and nothing came of it. Some fell on good earth and came up with a flourish, producing a harvest exceeding his wildest dreams.

"Are you listening to this? Really listening?
‘…Whose eyes are open but don't see a thing,

Whose ears are open but don't understand a word,
Who avoid making an about-face and getting forgiven.’”

"He continued, "Do you see how this story works? All my stories work this way. The farmer plants the Word… The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it. But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it,

…and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams."

The Message Bible
Some verses omitted

Part VII: Praise Him for Stinky Situations
(Written last year)

After I settled down to work this afternoon, in a cool corner of flourishing plant-life unruly weeds, I smelled something less than pleasant wafting through the air… The foul smell of my black labrador’s dinner, come out the back end! Apparently, this was also his favorite place! Gross! “Oh well… what am I gonna’ do?” I thought, as I got something to throw it out. “I guess it probably helps the grass grow,” I mused. And then came the next parallel to our spiritual life.

Fertilizer never smells too great. In fact, it downright stinks. How many stinky situations have you been in that have served to strengthen your relationship and faith in the Lord? Fertilizer may smell terrible, but it sure does make the grass grow thicker, healthier and stronger. I almost never enjoy bad situations, when I’m in them, but I have always been able to look back and see how God worked through that situation for my benefit.

Once, I tried to get a plane ticke to go home from Costa Rica* on short notice to visit my family and cure my home-sickness. I was quite disappointed, when it didn’t pan out. That was the week my husband and I started dating!

*I lived in Costa Rica for a year in 2002.

Another time, I worked really hard for a promotion in my Mary Kay business, only to come inches away, and not earn it. But through that, I learned a wealth of knowledge and wisdom about true leadership.

Most difficult, was when my parents divorced after over 30 years of marriage. I thought my life was shattering, but had it not been for that, it would have taken much much longer for me to see many issues in my own marriage that needed to be resolved. When my parents' marriage fell apart, I took a good hard look at my own. God helped me to see that (first) there were some patterns and habits we were forming that were really damaging to our relationship, and (second) the Lord could accomplish anything in us, regardless of the past history of divorce in each of our families.

I mentioned in a previous Poop and Weeds Wednesday that Paul could give thanks for every trial he encountered. Read Romans 5:3-6 from the Message Bible:

There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! Christ arrives right on time to make this happen.

Though you may struggle to rejoice in trials now, it is my hope for you that you will learn to have joy in the midst of trials, by starting with a small step: Simply trust in Him that all will turn out for the best, according to His best purpose for your life.