Living Under Dead Leaves

...........I found some time yesterday to get outside and do some yard work. I have not been able to do that at all this spring. With my back being like it was myself and my DH did not want to take any chances so I have avoided shovels and rakes............. However I was feeling especially good yesterday and with all the workers in the house and the mess I headed outside for time alone with just me and a rake........ Little did I know that Jesus was headed out there with me with a lesson up His sleeves........... I am so sorry about the pictures ladies, they did not come out like I wished but I will try to work around that..... What you are looking at is the east corner of my patio....... I have not planted much there because we have plans of a pool and the patio extended one of these days but I did scatter some seeds there last summer....... I love Sweet Annie and it smells so good so I put some right there in the corner so that we could enjoy the sweet smell throughout the summer and fall.

... When I headed out there Monday that corner was full of leaves..... up to the top of the patio and they were wet and yucky and a bit of mold growing underneath the layers. I began to rake out the corner and as I moved that messy mess I noticed small puny little sprigs trying to push up under the leaves. I continued to clean out the corner taking a bit more care of what I was doing as to not completely destroy what little life was there. It dawned on me in a few minutes that some of those pathetic little twigs had to be my Sweet Annie. Oh my.... those poor things........ I did have a large wash tub out by the shop that also had Sweet Annie growing. They were beautiful, with dark green foliage, about 5 inches tall, bushy and already possessed that sweet savor that I love ......... They have been out in the sun for several weeks now, but these poor things looked more like bean sprouts that had been put in a jar and hid away in the dark. They were spindly and laying on the ground ( I really wish the picture was better) They had no color and no leaves, just one long weak stem that could not withstand my tender touch let alone the spring storms that we have been having. Well I cleaned it out good and put a flower cart in front of that corner to protect those little things and at least give them a chance. It was at that point that the Lord spoke ......... He does find the strangest times and the strangest circumstances............. Here is how the conversation went..... it was short and sweet:

( see those little squiggle things there in the shadow?)

.... Why are these plants so unhealthy He asked? I gave it some thought, because they have had no sun. " Are they alive He asked?" Yes, but barley and if they can get some sunlight they might make it............ " But they are alive." Yes they are alive.............. and there it was...... Nothing else needed to be said.................

........When we are born again our spirit man survives on the SON shine......... There is an old man that is alive and well and will be there until we lay this body down or we are caught up with the trumpet of God. If we neglect that spirit man and we spend more time with things of the world and things that press in on us that spirit man will grow weak. Now he is alive and he is fighting to grow through the dead man that shares this body. BUT he is alive, he is born again, and he is a child of the most high God, but he have no strength. He is scrawny and lacking luster and color in his life and when the winds of trouble blow he will not have the strength to stand strong. He has no fragrance and the world does not even know he exists.....

..... We sometimes find ourselves buried under those old dead leaves.......... Let us take the time to clear away the dead remains of the old man and expose our spirit man to the son shine that will cause him to grow strong, then when the storms of life rage we will stand strong with our face turned toward the Son.

........... I loved that lesson from the Lord, but after that lesson I wish He had taught me how to grow my asparagus.................

hugs