No room to grow?

We spent much of the weekend in the flowerbeds…that once-a-year chore of cleaning up the sticks and leaves, topping the daffodils and tulips, pulling the year’s first weeds, planting our “annuals,” trimming and mulching. Hard work (our bodies remind us!) but satisfying. There's a real sense of accomplishment when it's done.

This year the job was a bit bigger than usual. Eight bushes along the front had to go. They were likely planted too close together more than a dozen years ago (when they were new and small). And even with regular trimming since then, they’d simply gotten out of hand…to the point where they were crowding each other and the sidewalk. It was ugly.

But not now. Those eight bushes were replaced with just four. Some new breathing space was opened for the remaining plants and the added color of more flowers. It really looks nice…better, I think, than I had imagined it would.

So…is there any room to grow in your life? Or are things so out of hand that all the color has been crowded out? I realize this isn’t an issue for everyone. But more and more of the folks I talk too seem absolutely harassed by their own calendars…by schedules often of their own making. Sure, there’s work. Add in that the kids (and/or grandkids) are in baseball, gymnastics, soccer, 4-H and go-kart racing...all at the same time. Plus, you’ve got to take care of the house and the cars and whatever additional stuff has accumulated over the years. And it sure would be nice to take some time this weekend for stuff you like to do...to go to the races, and the concert and the zoo.

“Pastor, I just can’t keep up. We’d love to be more involved, but there just aren’t enough hours in a day.”

Or maybe it’s time to pull a few bushes…to open up some space for healthy growth and real color.