For a very few days — or sometimes several weeks — in the spring I get inspired to try to do something with the flower beds. Perhaps it's the nasty looks I keep getting from my next-door neighbor whose yard is professionally landscaped. Perhaps it's the fact that it's the very brief window of time between too cold and too hot. Perhaps it's year-long guilt over the neglect that has built up. At any rate, now is the time. I'm digging in to the front flower bed.

We can invite The Gardener into our lives.

Last year, I did even less gardening than usual. Stressors continued to interrupt our spring and summer, so I could barely weed the mess out of my personal life, much less the weeds in my yard. I knew the plants and weeds would still be there when I was ready. Now that I'm finally ready, the weeds are definitely there. I have finally gotten enough weeds out to find the lantana. As I continued to weed and prune today, I muttered to myself, "What an unholy mess."

At first glance, it's hard to tell which is plant and which is weed. Then there is a thicket of dead shoots intermingled all through the live shoots. Unholy mess indeed! I would NEVER dream to compare my gardening skills to the work the Lord does in our lives, but I realized that without a gardener, we truly become an unholy mess. The difference in our lives and my poor lantana is that we can invite The Gardener into our lives and submit to the weeding and pruning that result in a healthy, thriving life. Or, we can be left to our own devices and end up a tangle of weeds, dead shoots, and anemic leaves.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." (John 15:1-2)

The Marriage Builder by Larry Crabb An all-new discussion guide has been added to this marriage-enrichment classic.

Sarah (Riley) Stirman graduated from Abilene Christian University with a degree in Elementary/ Special Education. A freelance writer, she currently lives in Abilene, Texas with her husband, Troy, their 2 children: Ashley, and Riley, as well as Duchess the chocolate lab and Stickers the hedgehog.

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