We’ve been digging at my house. A lot!

And no, I’m not in a remake of the movie, Holes. Though that’s a good one if you haven’t seen it. Digging certainly builds character and perseverance and muscle tone – or sore backs – depending on your age, I guess.

We’re repairing a water line to our house. That’s what this deep hole is for. But, I’m also digging in my flower garden for another reason. Grass!

Now, you may say, “Hey, grass isn’t all that bad. It’s green and lush. Almost like the leaves of the flowers.”

While that’s certainly true – the grass is green and lush and there’s so much of it, I can barely see my flowers in places – it isn’t where it’s supposed to be. Grass belongs in the lawn. NOT in my flower bed. I have a border around the flowers for exactly that reason – so the grass knows where to stop.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always respect my flimsy border. It is insidious and slips over, under, or around the black plastic denoting the end of the grass’s territory and the beginning of the where the flowers live.

Did I mention this is Crab Grass? If you’ve ever tried to get rid of crab grass, you’ll know it isn’t like your tame yard grass. Oh no! This stuff is grass on steroids! Not only does it grow from the roots which are hearty and deep. It also grows from the stems! That’s right. It puts out feelers and where ever those stems find soil, they root down and start a new plant. Ingenious. Sneaky. Downright annoying!

They’re so well-rooted I can’t just pull them. Instead, I have to dig them up. With a shovel!

So, I’ve been digging in my flower bed, keeping the pretty flowers from getting choked out by the crab grass masquerading as greenery.

This process reminded me that we must be vigilant in our inner gardens. You see, normally, I wouldn’t have had this problem. I’d have pulled all the small weeds and grass before it got humongous, then put down mulch to prevent more from sprouting. This year, I was under a heavy deadline and didn’t take the time to mulch.

Now, I’m paying the price. Instead of hand pulling a few small plants, I’m digging up huge roots.

Our hearts are like a flower bed. They need to be cultivated so the things that grow there are beautiful and produce pretty flowers instead of noxious poisons, thorns, or unruly brambles.

The best way to do that is through love and gratitude. If we cultivate those things, it is difficult for things like pride and greed to take root. But just like my actual garden, we’ll leave open spaces where we haven’t quite learned to love in that way or that person, or that situation. You fill in the issue. Then we leave room for other things to grow.

It’s like in Matthew 12:43-45 where it speaks of a spirit leaving a person, then returning and finding the space empty, swept, and clean and going out and finding 7 more spirits more evil than itself and moving them all in. If we simply get rid of the weeds or the grass or the sin that doesn’t belong, but do not fill the space with anything good, nothing prevents the weeds to reclaim that spot, or the sin to flourish even more after a brief hiatus. We must add mulch!

If we’re vigilant and cover our open soil with the mulch of prayer, those things will have trouble breaking free to prosper and grow. Sometimes, despite all our best intentions, we get distracted. It could be a good distraction, as in the case of my deadline, but the grass and weeds don’t care. All they need is time when we’re not paying attention. They can root and grow quickly. Before we know it, we have to dig to get rid of them.

Digging hurts. It is a dirty business. It’s time-consuming and best avoided. I definitely prefer the easier method. What about you?

So my goal for next year’s flower garden is to get the mulch on early and prevent a lot of digging later on. For my inner life, that means lots of prayer and working on loving better, more often, and more fully, waking each day with gratitude on my tongue, and praying on all occasions in all situations. In this way, with the Lord’s help, I might cultivate beauty and utility in the garden of my heart.

Will you join me in adding light and beauty to the world one person at a time? The Bible says we must start first with ourselves. Love cannot be truly shown unless it is first experienced within one’s own soul. God has shown us his love by sending Jesus to take our due punishment. We are redeemed and restored through faith by the power of the cross. By the power of the greatest love ever known.