Weedkiller

Referring to my previous post...

I just read, at the very least, an encouraging and challenging reminder of truth. It's the kind of thing that I referred to in the 'weed post' as the spiritual equivalent of Roundup.

But, like the real Roundup, it does no good unless it's applied.

It does no good in a bottle.

It does no good in a blog.

Application.

And, when necessary, re-application.

Amber waves of grain- purple mountain majesty

Don't get used to this, my blog-reading friends. Multiple posts in one day is not my M-O. I'm trying to clean house, finish thoughts, etc.

It's been almost a month since this trip. It was a great weekend. 
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I've made a few attempts at writing some witty intro to this post only to have it glide off my fingertips like...

yep- nothing. 

Anyway... I went to Colorado a couple weeks ago. I was ready for a break from Kansas wind and crunchy, dry grass. (I think that this summer put me over the edge a bit- consecutive 109-110 degree days, working outside, blast furnace wind... no thank you).

I intended to see some friends and enjoy the mountain views, but was also able to set up a general interview with an organization that I respect a great deal and would love to work for.

Suffice it to say, Colorado is growing on me.

I climbed my first Colorado mountain peak, Twin Sisters, outside Estes Park, elevation 11,428 ft. (Not a 14-er by any stretch of the imagination, but a good starting point for my 'summit-ing' career)

 That's Twin Sisters through the windshield of the ca...

thanks, Karm, for not leaving me and my Kansas cardio system in the dust.

Some more of my favorite pics...

The reward for a high-altitude workout... Thai food in Boulder (not pictured) and ice cream. Imagine a brownie about the size of that milk can building, in a bowl, and then in my gut (actually...couldn't even finish it)

Oh Colorado...you temptress, you.

In the Weeds...

I started this post a couple weeks ago...and since I seem to be in a blogging mode/mood today, I thought I'd knock it out. It's been a weedy couple weeks. Applicable.

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This post has been ruminating in my head for awhile.  Maybe I should say, my mind has been ruminating on this post for quite some time. (confession: i had to go to dictionaryDOTcom to check my usage of the ruminate word...you get the point, hopefully).

It's been a 'heady' last year or so... that referring to days and months of analysis, questioning, reading, thinking, over-thinking, and all the other words that you can imagine 'heady' to refer to. I would say that over-analysis is one of my spiritual gifts, but the problem with that is  1) I don't know how spiritual it is and 2) I am completely convinced that it's not a gift.

Anyway... while I'm not sure that this is exactly what Jesus was referring to, the headiness has seemed to connect me to a parable and passage in Matthew 13 where He is talking about the seeds and the sower. Of particular relevance and application is the portion of the parable where Jesus talks about seed falling among the weeds. The result is that the growth from the seeds is choked by the weeds.

In His explanation of the parable, Jesus says that this seed/weed interaction indicates a person who grows to a place of fruitfulness in spiritual things, only to have that fruitfulness snuffed out by worries and worldly cares. I'm not sure what the original Greek says, but there is a reference in most translations to greed and monetary aspirations overshadowing the focus on the eternal, as well as the worries of life choking out fruitfulness.

Weeds are terribly tenacious, life-sucking organisms. I've discovered that 'fun' truth first-hand in my last several months of working as an 'external beautification specialist.' I'm not sure how many hours I've spent on my hands and knees, pulling weed after weed after weed after weed out of a flower bed or tree box. We have one particular kind of weed that has taken over whole sections of our lawns. There is no sign of the healthy fescue grass that we planted last year. And it seems that repeated applications of herbicide haven't won the battle...yet.

And weeding/spraying is not a 'one and done' process. My coworkers and I can make a given flower bed look great, pulling out the weeds (properly- roots and all), only to come back days later and have to do it all over again. We can spray several times a season, only to have the little (insert plural censored descriptor) come back with a vengeance.

I think, taking this illustration back full circle, 'heady' can be exchanged for 'weedy' as a description of my last year or so. I've felt a lot of joy and peace strangled out of my life and relationships by the weeds of worry and anxiety. And while I find days of reprieve and the ability to 'breathe' again, I feel like I'm living in a perpetual choke hold these days.

So... I'm searching for the spiritual equivalent of Round-up. I'm finding that worship is part of that solution. I've been saved, time and again, as I digest what I'm playing/reading/singing.

And like the real-life stuff, I know that 'weeding' my mind and heart are not one-and-done activities.
At least I think I know that...

Maybe that's part of my problem- I need to be a little more regular about cleaning house and eradicating the 'weeds.' And weeds can have some deep roots. This is going to be a long process.

Why are these things so much easier to write about...


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Another blog from my current life...for another day... pruning and John 15

Why I love Pandora...

I saw the name Ruth Moody on another blog and checked her music out...

• Canadian singer songwriter
• individual artist
• also part of the 'Wailing Jennys'
• great acoustic-driven sound

so I made a "Ruth Moody" pandora station.

Check out these songs that started on Ruth's station tonight-

• Come on Get Higher- Matt Nathanson
• Crash Into Me (Live '99)- Dave Matthews
• I'll Be (Acoustic Version)- Edwin McCain
• Why Georgia- John Mayer
• Brand New Day- Joshua Radin
• Beautiful Girls (Stand By Me)- Boyce Avenue
• Angel/Better Together (Live 2008)- Jack Johnson

While I'm not quite as familiar with Joshua Radin and Boyce Avenue, I enjoyed their sound, especially nestled between these other classics. I love the live ones, especially.

Yep... Pandora. It's what's for dinner.

And some Sister Hazel is coming on... All for You (Live)

Confession of a Killer...

I'm discovering a 'talent' that I do well, and do frequently enough that I wish I could get paid for it.

I kill chapstick.

and this is my weapon of choice...

It's being added as a new feature on the 2011 edition of the Clue board game.
Professor Plum, in the utility room, with the dryer.

Guilty as charged