Day 159 of The Red Shoe Project included a morning of yard work. Yuk! I hate yard work! But sometimes it just has to be done. So I put on some old work clothes, a pair of gardening gloves, my RED sneakers and reluctantly headed outdoors. It's been raining for several days. There are branches that need to be gathered up so that the trash man can take them away. 
It seemed like a small job at first... that was until I ventured into the backyard. I discovered several tree limbs down, dead sticks all over the place, and some overgrown bushes that needed trimming. I hate to admit it, but none of these things have anything to do with all the rain we've been having. My back yard has been neglected and I'm afraid it's caught up with me."Neglected" means I haven't paid proper attention to my backyard. I've forgotten about it and haven't taken proper care of it.
It's funny how God speaks to me through yard work. I hate when He does that!!! LOL.
He certainly has a sense of humor. God's lessons
can be found in the most bizarre places! As sweat was pouring off my brow, I was wandering around my yard, bent over, and picking up sticks and old dead tree branches. They were all over the place.
I must have filled two big containers with them.
One time, as I bent over to pick up a stick, I noticed there was some sort of vine wrapped around it. When I pulled the stick toward me, I'm sure the vine pulled it back. I tugged back and forth a few times, and even still, the stick was stuck. That nasty vine just wouldn't let go. Really? My brain flashed back to an old Batman movie featuring the villainess, Poison Ivy. (Isn't ivy a vine?) I wondered how much ivy was growing in my back yard? Did I need a rescue squad to come in and free all this dead wood? LOL. I took a closer look. One of the vines must have been ten feet long, and that's just the part that I could see. It was all over the place... intertwined within trees and bushes, wrapped around sticks, hidden under leaves. God only knows how extensive it really is.
Right there, amongst that mess in my backyard, God decided to speak. He told me that when we neglect areas of our lives -- when we don't check in on how we're doing, when we let those little things go and don't deal with them -- temptation and sin creep in. They move in and latch onto things, entangling themselves amongst everything, trying to set up permanent residence in our lives. You don't even realize that they're there, but when you go to move... like that stick, it's got a hold of you. And it's not so easy to get loose!
Sin is like that... so is unforgiveness, not to mention lying. And I'm sure I could think of countless other examples. Now there's something to ponder awhile. Are there any spiritual matters in my life not being attended to? Hmmm. If so, I better get to them right away! I'm glad the yard work is over. It's raining again, and I'm thinking that I may need to invest in a nice pair of RED rubber boots, something that's good for the rain and for gardening. LOL!
Gail
