Packing a Load of Worry??

Hi Friends,

    Lots of things I was dreading this week  (including a diagnostic mammo when the last two mammos caused a lot of damage, and a tense meeting with a teacher, among other things. But both are behind me now and as it turns out, God was so gracious for all the things I was dreading. He helped me stay calm and thoughtful before and throughout, then graced me with positive results as well.

As I was pondering the week and the icky feeling I had leading up to the week, and to the various not-looking-forward-to-that appointments, I came across this article I wrote eons ago. The story spoke to me again, so I thought I'd share it with you. This past year has been, for almost everyone I know, a time when the pull towards worry has been and continues to be particularly strong.

Praying for freedom from the heavy load of worry and fear for you, and for me too!

 Packing a Load of Worry 

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 

1 Peter 5:7 NIV 

 

"Ow!  Ooooo!  Ugh!  Ack!," I cried as my thirty pound backpack settled with ponderous severity on my tired hips and back.  I tightened the strap around my waist, feeling the nylon dig into my sides and shoulders, pressing unmercifully into the deep purple bruises that had formed during yesterday's hike.  How much more wonderful it would be to be able to backpack without having to carry anything!  If only it could be so!  If only someone else would carry the burden and allow me to bound along through the forest unhindered.  I sighed and looked down at my dusty feet, wondering if I would be able to move them at all with that heavy load on my back. 

But, move them I did, trudging forth along the trail as playful wisps of dust rose up to tantalize my nostrils and settle quickly on my face and hair.  I sneezed and adjusted the pack as I made my way up the gentle, yet torturous, climb to my day's destination.  Thud, thud, thud, went my feet along the path, echoing with the weight of my body plus the backpack.   

After a few more hours, though, I no longer noticed the weight of the pack.  My feet still plodded heavily in the dust, but I had gotten used to the additional burden.  The thirty pounds weighing down my shoulders seemed almost natural.  I practically forgot about it all together.  I no longer remembered that it was the source of my weariness, even as my breath came in ragged gasps to my ears.  I had come to accept the burden, hardly being able to imagine hiking without it.  I ceased to wonder at the fact that simple walking had become such a chore, that even a flat path was a trial.  I forgot that there was ever such a thing as traveling without a burden on my back. 

Living our lives with worries and fears is a lot like hiking with a heavy backpack.  When worry first comes upon us, we groan and cry out and wonder how we will ever get through the day with such a heavy burden weighing down upon us.  But soon, as worry becomes natural, we accept it as normal.  We put our worries on every morning like a great, heavy pack, and carry them through the day as if that was the only way we had ever known to live.  Soon, we forget what it's like to walk through life without our fears strapped tightly to our backs.  Then we wonder why we are so weary, so tired of the endless trudging from one day to the next! 

Happily for us, there is Someone who has offered to carry the load for us, Someone whose hand is extended even now to take the burden of worry and fear and carry it Himself.  Peter tells us to "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" ( 1 Peter 5:7 NIV ).  Jesus will carry the backpack for us, so that we can enjoy and relish the hike of life!  All we have to do is hand over the burden to Him, allow Him to unstrap the worry from our backs and free us. 

Just like backpacking, life is much more fun without thirty pounds of fear strapped on our backs.  We can tread lighter, easier, freer, and, most importantly, travel much further toward our destination of Faith and Holiness!

Ice Plant and Enduring through all Seasons

Hi Friends,

Today, I'm feeling weary. Covid stuff drags on and on. Problems I think I've solved don't get solved and need to be revisited again and again and again. Doctor appointments need to be made, people need to be called or emailed, forms need to be filled out, the kitchen needs to be cleaned AGAIN, taxes need to be done, kids need help with stuff, repairs are waiting to be done, and redone, animals need their daily care. So, I need to head out to the mailbox, and the barn (I will avoid the kitchen for now). On the way, I'll see green grass which will die out in a couple months. I'll see some wildflowers which will die out sooner. And I'll ice plant. Lots of ice plant. Ice plant doesn't die out. It NEVER dies out.

Today, I need the lesson of the ice plant . . .

 

The Beauty of Ice Plant

            I hate ice plant. At least, I used to. 

            It grows wild all over my 16-acre ranch. It grows in the pasture. It grows in the lawn, it grows in the dog area. It grows in the landscaping alongside my husband’s office. It even grows in the dirt circle in the middle of my driveway where even the weeds die. And then it grows over the pavement itself. 

            Last fall, I decided I had had enough. Armed with giant metal rakes, thick gloves, fat clippers, sharp hoes, and fierce determination, I tackled the most prevalent patches. I ripped, I tore, I pulled, until every bit was demolished from my driveway. 

            Or at least I thought so. 

            The driveway remained ice-plant-free over the winter. But then, as the spring came I began to see the start of new plants breaking through the soil. By the beginning of summer, the ice plant was back in all its glory. Its flowers bloomed purple and yellow all over my property again, not just in the areas where I had pulled it out, but also in new areas where new patches had sprung up.

            As summer draws on, there is no longer anywhere I can walk on my property where the flowers of the ice plant aren’t visible. 

            And I have to admit (quietly, mind you, and never out loud), that ice plant can be, well, rather beautiful. There’s just something about it that has started to stir my soul. Perhaps it’s because of all the flowers that bloom, ice plant may just be the one that God most wants me to emulate. 

            James 1:4, 11-12, (NIV) reads, “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. … For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed… [But] Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

            To not wither in the heat of life … that is blessedness. To be not easily uprooted, not easily beaten, not easily discouraged … that is blessedness. To be determined to grow, to flourish, no matter what the circumstances … that is blessedness indeed.

            God, by his grace, can make me an ice plant. He can give me the endurance, the grit, to bloom where there is little water, where the dirt seems dry. And he can give me the grace to grow back strong and healthy when circumstances, or when others, do their best to pull me up and cause me to wilt. 

            So, what does it take to grasp that grace, to thrive and bloom, to grow back fuller, stronger, more vibrant after significant setbacks?

            Maybe we should look more closely at the ice plant. It stores water in its leaves so it doesn’t need much sustenance from around it. We store God’s truth in our hearts so we may draw on it during dry and difficult times. The ice plant is resistant to salty environments. We, too, can be resistant to the saltiness and spite of others. When there’s too much rain, ice plant disengages pieces that are beginning to rot so that they don’t damage the whole. We too should look to cut out the rotting places of our lives so that what is healthy can flourish. Ice plant can be easily propagated. We too can cast the love and goodness of Christ far and wide that it may grow and spread.

            I think of hot house roses that die without the proper care. I think of the beautiful lilies that my family got me for Mother’s Day, that quickly withered and turned brown. I think of the African violets that I love but can never keep alive. They’re beautiful, for a time. 

            But I don’t want to be a rose, a lily, a violet. I want to be an ice plant. I want to bloom even in the fiercest opposition. I want to fill the land with beauty even when I’m not liked, even when I’m not appreciated. 

            I want to bloom anyway. 

            Because God loves me. And he has made me to endure.