Tags
afflictions, blessings, grief, hope, insanitybytes22, life, opinion, spring
I am overwhelmed by dandelions and weeds, overwhelmed by life too, by the way the good people who I care about keep getting hit by some affliction, and the bad people who I also care about, seem to be hellbent on afflicting their own selves.
I am also overwhelmed by those same prayers that must go up day after day, year after year, and yet nothing really seems to ever change. We pray without ceasing and then we simply run out of breath, and I suppose when that happens the Holy Spirit just picks up where we left off and intercedes for us….
I am simply out of breath today, Lord.
It occurs to me that all these things are very subjective, both the weeds and the afflictions. I actually have let the dandelions lay as I often do this time of year because they are bright and yellow, the only flower out there. What makes them weeds??
I actually have some affection for weeds, my collection of plants actually being weeds to someone, somewhere. I have tiger lilies that grow on the sides of the road in the midwest, wild roses, nasturtiums that creep up from the cracks in the pavement on the freeways of California. I am all about the weeds, what the High and Mighty, an invasive species themselves, would promptly label, “non native.” Then, as if that is not enough to mess with my head, they move here and proceed to spend a great deal of money…. importing native plants.
In case anyone wondered, IB does not play so well with the Garden Club Ladies. I am crazy enough without their help…
I said nothing really ever changes and yet in truth everything changes constantly and it is the changes that tend to grieve us the most. So I pray without ceasing for change, but only good change, not the bad change, and I pray for Spring and yet when Spring finally comes I lament the dandelions and the pollen and the Garden Club Ladies….
So today I pray instead for the Lord to show me the value in the dandelions, the treasures to be found hidden in our afflictions, to open my eyes to His blessings safely tucked within the weeds.
See, there's this thing called biology... 
Sooooo good. Was just noticing my dandelions in the yard… I like this perspective. 🙂
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Could it be that you’re being ‘overwhelmed’ is actually a manifestation of an abiding spiritual reality? “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” – Jn. 7:38.
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Love this, achoo, as spring here in Virginia is laden with allergens!
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Kids love dandelions, especially when they dry up and become white so they can blow their seeds out. I know I did. I also remember running through white dandelions was so much fun, like kicking sparkles everywhere. 🙂
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I included the words underneath. I think I may have sent THIS to you already Gabrielle, but oh how incredibly edifying.
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I also seek understanding in so many things. This post is pretty awesome.
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as my students use to say, “I feel you”—weeds are under appreciated flowers and I too am overwhelmed and out of breath—-waiting on the Holy Spirit to take over!!!
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Oh, wow! You should should hear my daughter, Katie, talk about dandelions! She sees them as one of those great testimonies to a Creator God. I will see if I can find something to send to you 🙂
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Here is a link to my daughter’s post. This is from a while back, before she started college. Now she is majoring in Music Ed. AND Biology Ed. I told her she should check out your blog, but she has been busy. Wonder why.
https://shutterelf.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/the-dandelion/
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Your daughters post is just beautiful!
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Love this! My little girl, who is 10, was only asking me the other day why I was weeding the garden when she thought the weeds looked pretty! She also loves dandelions.
Hayley
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Sorry you’re having one of those days, or weeks maybe. Feeling overwhelmed is never fun, prayers for you that it will pass quickly.
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How sweet msb. ‘Show me the value of the weeds.’ A soft request surely heard by the Lord and willing to reveal the countless ways.
Then there is overwhelmed as in drowning in debt, taken aback by believers and unbelievers, accusations within and without, and yes, while doing yardwork, we are reminded that ‘thorns and thistles’ are a way of life. How’s your lawn? some ask. Great, the weeds have taken over and are thriving.
But it’s all perspective I suppose. The yellow flower in the midst of the green with such deep roots is rather nice to look at, and the bumblebees, those amazing defiers of flight, bring pleasure that cannot be traded for a thousand dollars. Well maybe five hundred.
But I love that plea show me the value in weeds, for we have precedence: show me thy glory……..
As God is true, and as scripture is true, I would think there is something by every commenter here that touches on God’s favor and has proved that deep answers to deep.
(also Tricia observed about having one of those days……heck, I’m having one of those life’s! lol) But you know all this already, but me likes the bitter and brutal honesty of this post.
And can I laugh at the garden lady thought. Crackin me up.
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A weed is a plant growing in a place where it is not wanted. I embrace my wildflower patches (figuratively), and I don’t care that my neighbors call them weeds. It’s much easier to tend plants that are native to the area. As far as I know, lawn grass is an invasive species. J.
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I am out of breath myself. I so get this. Have felt burnt out, worn out, and turned out in recent days.
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