Dandelions

I've never seen so many dandelions in my LIFE than I've seen in yards here in Kansas City! I thought my yard was immune especially since I've treated it well, etc. However, it is not the case. I have found a "natural" killer treatment online so I'll be doing that in the next couple of days; while researching, I learned that if you can pull the flowers while they are yellow, before they turn to those puff balls which are seeds that multiply the problem with just a bit of wind, then you can cut down on the spread a bit.

However, the ONLY TRUE way to rid one's property of dandelions, as we ALL know, is to completely uproot them! Of course any regular blog readers know that a spiritual truth would come roaring forth from this keyboard, so here goes.

I decided to do some pulling of the yellow flowers, and while doing so, some of the dandelion plants were so ready to be pulled up by the roots that I just did the major surgery! We've had DAYS of rain, so the ground is very soft, thus making pulling up by the roots much easier...but only some of them were willing and ready to be pulled up by the roots.

Of course I was being super careful not to knock the "puffy" stems and thus send the seeds flying in the breeze to reproduce, but it is inevitable.

How true all of this is in our spiritual lives. We've got some deeply rooted issues in our lives...ALL of us do and if you think you don't, well, I'll let you deal with yourself! :-) Those deeply rooted issues sprout and grow and at first, we can hide them with beautiful yellow flowers coming forth. I even remember going out in the yard as a young girl and picking a whole bouquet of yellow dandelions for my mom! But just as with issues (and sin), the yellow flower fades and turns to a white poof ball, standing tall and proud! The reality of our issues will ALWAYS show forth and eventually will affect not only us but others!

When the wind catches these poof balls, the seeds scatter and fly, and each one of them can lead to yet another dandelion weed growing up. Depending on the strength and direction of the wind, the seeds may go a short distance or may fly for blocks or even miles!

Indeed, our issues and sins, when surfaced and blown on by the wind of the Holy Spirit can be carried short or long distances, affecting those closest to us, or even those far away! If left where they are, it's only a short time before the entire yard is one big dandelion patch.

The ONLY sure way to clear out the dandelions is to UPROOT them! The entire root has to be pulled out, cleanly, completely, with nothing left!

In our lives, our issues have roots, and often have tentacles from those roots which grip the soil of our souls. At times we even feed those issues or sins, which only serves to keep the roots digging deeper, thus producing more flowers and eventually more poof balls which spread the "infection". God, in His severe and wonderful, gentle mercy, comes to us EVERY DAY wanting to go to the root of the issues in our lives through the Holy Spirit and dig them out completely. However, our will can get in the way because God will never over-ride the human will. When will gets in the way, the root cannot be dug out, and the dandelion remains...even if you cut it back to the ground level so no "fruit" can be seen. Eventually, left untreated, it will grow again and affect everyone around us!

So, as I drive through neighborhoods here and see some yard clear of dandelions and others FULL of nothing but dandelions, I am driven to prayer, first for myself, that I would allow God to do HIS digging in my heart and soul to uproot anything that hinders His love from entering in and from my being able to love Him and love others! Second, I pray for those in my life whom the Lord is "working on" and uprooting stuff...and finally, for the people in those houses.

I'm off to get my dandelion "killer"...and in the meantime, I keep my heart open to the Lord so He can uproot all that needs to be uprooted!