Consider the Wildflowers

A couple weeks ago, I was finally able to work outside in my flowerbed. We have a variety of shrubs, rose bushes and some random perennials that grow each year. We also have an abundance of extremely invasive Ivy. I personally think Ivy is beautiful. I grew up reading The Secret Garden and loved watching movies and reading books with the Ivy growing up the walls of the garden gates or Snow White’s little cottage in the woods. Unfortunately, the Ivy in my flowerbed is not this Ivy. Instead, it is extremely invasive; it starts as a tiny leaf popping out of the ground and quickly grows. The vines creep through the mulch until they reach a branch or a flower stem. Once they reach their destination, they wrap around and around like a snake constricting its prey until they reach the top and continue to spread, trying to find anything to cling onto. On this particular day, I was working on getting the Ivy untangled from some very delicate pink flowers (I have no idea what they are called). As I was sitting in the grass, carefully unwrapping and using my pruning shears to strategically cut away pieces of the vines, I had a thought/revelation/God moment of just how similar this whole weeding of the Ivy was to parenting my kids and bonus kids. Yes, Ivy and kids! I know, it sounds odd, but I promise I have an explanation. My husband and I have 4 kids between us. 3 of the 4 are teenagers who are definitely fulfilling all of their teenage duties, including giving us parents an abundance of gray hairs and an extended prayer list! Needless to say, we have had to have MANY discussions over the last couple years about making wise decisions with school, friends, relationships, and life. All this got me thinking; there are a lot of weeds….Ivy in their lives. Kids are constantly being tempted by negative influences: Social media, peers, friend choices that need to be reevaluated, drinking, making poor choices in school, the list goes on and on. These influences start out just like a tiny bud popping out of the earth; seemingly harmless. Until it starts creeping into their thoughts, wrapping them a little tighter everyday, eventually consuming them until they can’t “untangle” themselves without help. As parents, it is our job, just as we go into our gardens to weed out these invasive plant-killers, to weed out the Ivy that can take over our kids. If they are like the little pink flowers in my garden, it will take take time. It will take patience. It will take lots of careful and tedious pruning. It won’t be enjoyable, and you may even catch a thorn every now and then. However, it is SO IMPORTANT that you don’t give up. Don’t ever think that your words, your wisdom don’t matter. Those hard conversations and life lessons have to happen. Will it be uncomfortable at times? Yes. Will you think your child will hate you forever? Yes. Do you need to quit being a friend and start being a PARENT? Yes. Will your child be better, stronger, healthier, wiser, and more respectful? Absolutely YES! Just like those delicate flowers in my garden, it may take a little while for them to perk back up, fill their roots full of the nutrients they were being starved of, and reach their full beautiful potential. With the proper love, continuous “weeding,” and constant teaching of God’s love and guidance, they will be able to grow into wonderful adults and it will be our blessings as parents, to see how God will fulfill His plans for them!!!

Matthew 13: 24-43