Confessions of a grasshopper….

Remember that picture from yesterday? Of the patio?

Well, it was taken last year.

This growing season I planted begonia’s instead of herbs. And the long winter and extremely moist spring have left us with…..

I tried to convince Russ it has a kind of quaint Old English look to it…

Apparently he is not into the Hobbit motif…whatever….

With every acquisition comes the responsibility of tending and maintaining.

And I am more of an acquiring and resting kind of girl…

But even Adam and Eve were told to work and tend the place we call “paradise”.

Remember the old Aesop fable of the grasshopper and the ant…or better yet,  maybe just the truth of God’s word in Proverbs?

Proverbs 6:6 admonishes me to consider the ways of the ant (which is quite easy since they are as busy out there on the patio as the moss….)

The ant works industriously and diligently.

But I have always struggled with grasshopper tendencies…stopping and smelling the roses has always been my first choice. Pruning? Nah…not so much….

I guess when we were raising a family, I didn’t notice because who had time? I was driven by meeting the demands of the moment, not inner ant-like dedication.

Uniforms were needed, lunches had to be packed, the dishwasher cycled practically on its own.

I was sleep deprived and running on adrenaline and frozen pizza.

I longed for more time to get things done around the house….

Now I have more time and it’s not working for me…without the sense of urgency it is easy to let things slide.

But God never put an age limit on that call to tend and work. Our culture may, but God didn’t.

Most of the chores of every day life are monotonous and repetitious…just ask ants. Have you watched them going back and forth the same trail with little tiny bits of whatever to dump in the nest and then return to get more???

But God tells me, this is to be my model.

It is an honor and a blessing to care for the things He has provided for us. It is the call of stewardship – tending the things that really, ultimately belong to Him.

I pray today to be a productive tender of all that God has given me.

May God bless you as you go about your ordinary, every day tasks with your eyes on Him. And remember another old word of wisdom…a rolling stone gathers no moss…sorry…just couldn’t resist….

Have a great weekend!