Waging War With Weeds (That's a LOT of W's Isn't it?) Part 1

My last two posts have been a little serious. My mind was in a "serious" funk for a little while (not bad every so often). But right about now I feel like y'all need to get to know me a little better. Of course, I can't sit down and have a conversation with all of you at this time (much as I'd love to); so this post will have to do.

My topic for our one-sided discussion today is obvious. WEEDS. I hate them. I want them all to die. I've always wished that I had supahpowers (yes, I say it like that), and usually I want something cool like supah strength or flight. But recently all I've wanted is Weed Extermination Beams to come out of my eyes or Weed Killer Lightning to come out of my finger tips. Why? Lemme 'splain. No. Too much. Lemme sum up.

My missionary companion and I live with a lady named Georgia. She is a sweetheart. I love her to death. I would do anything for her. That's why I mow her lawn every Monday. Now, by way of information, I think over the past few weeks that I have been mowing her lawn I have become acquainted with every type of weed known to man. I make no joke here folks. Georgia's backyard might be the place where our Heavenly Father decided to start growing noxious weeds, thistles, briars, and thorns when He cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. And so, since having become so familiar with weeds, they have of course done their job impeccably well: they are back for another round every Monday no matter how well I have mowed and cut and whacked and sprayed the week previous. They also seem to have figured out how to weed their way into my brain and my thoughts. OBNOXIOUS RIGHT?!

Wrong. I have learned so much from these little buggers. Examples that they set in today's post. Warnings that they give in my next post. Tell your friends.

Example #1: Perseverance. No matter how much cutting down and pesticide spraying and mowing happens, they stand strong. They spring back up. They face adversity (and lawn mower blades) head on without so much as flinching. If we are to weather the weekly mowings of life, I think we should demonstrate such perseverance as well.

Example #2: They plant their roots deep. Have you ever tried to pull out those spindly weeds that are really thin and seem to spider all over the place and about every inch or so they clamp down to the ground? Once you get to the real root and not the little clamps you find, you gotta pull hard. The other day I pulled one that had a root the length of my forearm. That's long! So too must we plant our roots deep in the Gospel soil where our Father in Heaven desires to plant us, and there we will flourish.

Example #3: There is strength in numbers. They gather in groups of similar weeds. They wrap themselves around each other and mingle their roots and stems to forge a seemingly insurmountable wall of weedy-ness. There have been times when I look out at an especially large congregation of crabgrass and I think, "This is IMPOSSIBLE!" Likewise, how easy is it to withstand  tribulation when we surround ourselves with those who are equally uplifting, faithful, and dependent on the Gospel of Jesus Christ? One might say that the Adversary will look at us and say "This is IMPOSSIBLE!".

These are just a few of the many lessons I have learned from my longtime enemies, sometimes friends the Weeds. As I have pondered these things, I have been strengthened and lifted up by what they mean. I invite you to do the same. Persevere, plant your roots deep, surround yourself with those of similar belief and faith, and you shall prevail against the Lawn Mower of Life just as well as the weeds seem to do against me every week.