Call it lame. Call it corny. But my adventure of the day is weeding in my garden.
Before you judge, humor me for a second.
It was a 99 degree day, and I decided to tackle one of the tasks on the long list of housework my mother offered to my brother and I. That task was weeding the vegetable garden that sits below my breeze way window. Although that small plot has yielded some great homegrown ingredients for our dinner salads and veggie omelets, it is overwhelmingly plagued by weeds; so much so that you cannot see the soil that they spring up from.
At first it was a drudgery. I was dripping in sweat after just minutes, which turned the dry soil encrusted on the skin of my arms and legs into mud. Not to mention I was sore from the back workout I did earlier that day. But then I stopped my internal complaining and started to notice the little things as I worked:
The vibrant greens that surrounded me.
The satisfying crunching noise of the weeds as I uprooted them.
The overwhelming mercy of a tree casting a cool shade over me, or the occasional gentle breeze to dry me off.
The centipedes and spiders crawling in and around my hands as I dug through their home, realizing that my small garden was their massive universe, and all they would ever know and explore in their short insect lifetimes.
The miracle of growing something from next to nothing.
The fresh scent of tomato leaves.
The disorderly melodies of mismatched notes that the birds sang to one another; that they are the most mysterious composers of a musical genre humanity has yet to fully understand.
How God's creation both humbles and empowers!
Doing that very simple chore today taught me that no matter what nasty conditions you are in, no matter what tedious task or daunting challenge you are faced with, you have the secret power to create something great by noticing the little things. That is something no one can take away, because it comes from you and you alone!
No comments:
Post a Comment