Blessings Amongst the Weeds

For week twenty-six in Scribbled Lives we were asked to utilize a symbol and then to add words. I am in the process of learning Japanese as my bonus daughter and her husband now live there. I was reminded how important it was for me to learn Japanese as my grandchildren will speak both Japanese and English. So I bit the bullet and have been studying, which includes learning Kanji…and that’s tough! To move from an alphabet based language to a symbol based one has been enlightening and challenging all at the same time.

For this Scribbled Lives challenge I chose the words grass and flowers to illustrate what I experienced this week as I pulled grass and weeds out of my echinacea flowers. I used the Kanji symbols for each word together to create a sense of my weeding and the grass infestation…the never ending part of having a garden. The small text at the bottom reads:

I do my best thinking while pulling weeds.

– Martha Smith

If you have any sort of home or place that you take care of, you have chores. Cleaning, vacuuming, dusting, and possibly weeding. It is both the curse and the blessing of owning a place. The wonderful part of chores is they help you know, understand and value the space in which you reside. You gain a sense of pride, imagination, time to think about all the people who will enjoy these spaces. And, you earn a real sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when you look back and can see the fruits of your labors. A clean house, a beautiful garden, a place where your ideas and hard work come together to create a beautiful space…all that means home.

While you toil it may not feel like a blessing. It is a chore, time consuming and even a bother. When I find a practical use for dog and cat hair I will be a bazillionaire! Until then, I sweep, vacuum, shake out and revel in how every surface of the house has hair on it. And then one of the dogs licks my leg or begs me to pet them, the cat cuddles up in my lap or sleeps in a chair…and I know I am home. A home in which weeds, pet hair, work and rest all reside under the same roof.

Let me encourage you today to look at your dwelling and see the pleasure, warmth, peace and rest it provides…while you provide the hard work, finances, and energy to somehow get it all done. No one’s home I perfect, no matter what HGTV tells us. EVERYONE has chores. Everyone has too many to do items and not enough time or energy to get it all done. And everyone has some form of weeds in their lives. Instead of seeing them as weeds, look at them as opportunities to know and understand the place in which you live. The sink will have to be cleaned again, and yes those dishes will indeed get dirty after another meal. The weeds will come back in some shape or form, and the pets will always leave hair on every surface. And yet…this is your home. Your place, your sanctuary and where you settle into bed each night for rest and the courage to face another day tomorrow.

Let us give thanks for the blessings amongst the weeds…the alternative is much worse. Just ask anyone who is dreaming of their own place and does not have that blessing yet.