Pretty Little Flower Weeds

Since Spring has sprung on our little neighborhood of Berkley, the sights and sounds of lawnmowers and landscaping have once again permeated the neighborhood.  It's fun to see people outside again.  I so admire the people who have their lawns looking so well-manicured, colorful, and pretty.  I confess, however, I do not enjoy this same passion.

I don't really like to dig around in the dirt.  It's not the dirtiness I mind as much as the bugs.  I really don't like the worms and bugs.

And then there's this whole thing of weeding.  I hate weeding.  It never goes away.  No matter how many times I pull up those stinkin' weeds, they always come back.  Very quickly, might I add.

And the ones that REALLY get me are the ones that I call "ninja weeds."  They are the weeds that sneak up on you because they don't really look like weeds.  They disguise themselves as pretty, little flowers.  We had a large patch of pretty, little purple flowers in our front lawn this year which I thought were just delightful.  Then, I was told that they were actually weeds and that they had to go!  Imagine, the sneakiness of those weeds!  Pretending to be flowers and all the while they are just waiting to pounce upon the healthy growth of our grass.

It made me think twice about the various "gardening habits" that I cultivate in my own life.  When I go through life day to day, experiencing various circumstances and interactions with people, attitudes and thinking patterns naturally will begin to grow in my heart.  

Sometimes, these are obviously beautiful, healthy flowers.  Time spent with a trusted friend builds encouragement, love, and delight in my heart and adds "fertilizer" to the growth that may have already been there.

Other times, they are obviously weeds.  When I spend my time watching shows with unhealthy images, or around people that bring out negative behaviors in me, weeds like gossip or deceit or self-indulgence can be fertilized, thereby choking out the healthy growth of the aforementioned "flowers."  These weeds need to be picked and thrown out quite regularly.

The ones of which I've become more aware, however, are the "pretty little flower weeds" that can tend to grow in my heart.  These aren't obviously "bad," but when I begin to analyze the growth that comes from them, I see they don't really produce flowers at all.  

For example, I can indulge in romantic comedies or romance novels, and if I'm not careful, I can begin to compare my life, my marriage, my home, or any number of other things to a fantasy ideal that doesn't even exist.  And the "pretty, little flower weeds" of discontent and anxiety begin to spring up.  While these things may not be inherently "bad" or cause this sort of growth all the time, I've become aware of the need to be proactive about noticing what these sorts of things can do to my heart and be just as vigilant about pulling the "ninja weeds" as I am the obvious ones.

God, through the Holy Spirit, is the master Gardener of my heart and I need to look to Him for the guidance on a daily basis.  Through His grace, I will be able to enjoy the rewards of the "pretty, little flowers" in my garden, without having to be tricked by the weeds.

Master Baby

This weekend marked a monumental celebration in the Leach household . . . Brad graduated with his Master's Degree in Church Leadership from Assembly of God Theological Seminary!

I am so proud of him and although I couldn't physically be there, I made sure he took a picture so I could see how cute he looked in his cap and gown. :-)

It's pretty amazing to see this phase complete, as it was one of the first "big" things we discussed in the context of our relationship back in June 2007.  While we had no certainty of the course of things ahead, I really knew this was a great opportunity for him and encouraged him to pursue it if he so desired.  Looking back on things now, I see how providential God was in His timing to allow Brad to finish this season just in time before life would change once again when he's a Daddy!  He really does seem to have these things planned out pretty well. :-)

Congratulations, Master Baby. :-) I love you and am so proud of you!!!

33 Weeks!

So I was a little late on this posting as I should have posted it at 32 weeks.  I'm actually at about 33.5 weeks today, so I have about 6.5 weeks left!  Crazy.  I didn't manage to get a new picture in the same shirt, but here is a picture in another outfit.  Ironically, I wore that t-shirt originally to point out the "big belly" that I had at 5 months.  It's not really necessary any more.

Here are some observations for month 8 of the pregnancy.

• It's really quite convenient having a nice little "shelf" any time I need it.  It's come in quite handy to store some snacks there while I do something else with my hands (typing on the computer for instance).
• I would have thought that it was a good idea to let the mother "store up" sleep in the months before the baby is born knowing what was coming soon thereafter.  God thought it better to prepare the mom for the new "sleep schedule" (or lack of it) in the months leading up to the birth.  Between never really getting comfortable in bed and needing to pee an extraordinary amount of times in one day, sleep is rather elusive.
• And speaking of peeing . . . the other night when I was feeling especially frustrated about the number of times I had to get up, I decided to make myself feel better by pretending that I had a superpower that I could pee more than anyone else in the world.  I gave myself the name "The Urinator" and looked at the toilet saying, "I'll be back," in my best Arnold accent as I left the bathroom.  Strangely enough, it did make me feel better.
• I can actually make out particular body parts of Gabriella at this point if I push around in my stomach just so.  Even though my brain has understood this for a while now, it still kind of weirds me out to realize there is a head inside of me.
• Over the last few days/weeks, I have caught myself doing 2 of the quintessential pregnancy characteristics: crying at the drop of a hat and "the waddle."  I always thought these were pregnancy jokes used on sitcoms, but they're pretty real.
• I have come to appreciate little things in life that are temporarily out of my realm of possibility, such as the ability to pick things up from the ground when I drop them.  Usually when this happens I spend about 5 seconds simply staring at the object, wondering how this occurred.  Then, I spend another 5-10 seconds, trying to think like Master Yoda and use the force to pick the object up.  This has yet to work.  So, I finally spend another 10 seconds or so acting like a primate, trying to pick up the object with my toes.  Thank God for opposable thumbs.
• Despite any of these minor "inconveniences" I really have been so thankful for this pregnancy and can't wait to meet Gabriella soon! :-) Thank you so much for all your prayers!