Grass vs Astroturf

A few weeks ago, Pastor Rick Warren tweeted the following:

"The grass is not greener on the other side, it has just been watered!  And if it really is greener, it just might be astroturf."

I wish I was smart enough to come up with such a catchy phrase, but instead, I just steal them from others!  I've thought a lot about that phrase off and on and how it relates to just about any relationship.

Last night, I was walking home after taking my dog for a long walk, and I was able to really look at my yard as I walked up the driveway.  After all this glorious rain and being freshly mowed yesterday, it is just green and lush and beautiful.  For those that don't know, that in itself has been a labor of love.  We have a HUGE front yard and it just had some ugly native grasses.  So, last year, we decide to spend the money and get it hydromulched and get some nice saint augustine grass growing.  Well...we did this about June when it was SUPER hot and of course zero rain for the rest of the summer...and we learned AFTER THE FACT that we have about zero water pressure to water even a small area.  So, more money, more labor ensued to get more water pressure and for WEEKS, we were watering our investment like mad, moving sprinklers constantly and trying to keep that grass from dying.  It even got to a point where we said forget about the grass farthest from the road, let's just water this nearest to the house and try to save it.  It appeared, at that time, an exercise in futility...to a point that we just felt defeated and up against Mother Nature.  We even had people tell us that was a waste of money, they could have "told us that wouldn't work", etc.  So, talk about add insult to injury.

Well, I'm here to tell you that not only this year is the grass alive, it is beautiful.  Sure, there are some weeds that have to be addressed, but really with all the God sent rain, it is lush, green, inviting and just downright pretty.  And you know what else?  It has SPREAD...even the areas we gave up on and said "it's a lost cause":...well now they are green, too!  I hadn't really focused on it that much till last night...and I just laughed and thought, "what a difference a year makes".

Now back to that comment above...aren't relationships just like my yard if you think about it?  Sometimes, they just look like no matter what the effort, they are going to die...it's futile, hopeless, just move on.  And people are all too quick to affirm that.  People often just move on to another person...but if you use my analogy with the yard, would you give up watering your grass and start watering your neighbors?  Ummm, I don't think so!  You would dig in and bear down and do the best you can with your own yard!  So, why do we give up on relationships so easy?  And I'm not just talking about a spouse...I'm talking about family, friends, co-workers...the list goes on.

The work that is put into a relationship is hard work...and when we are wrapped up in it, it can look pretty hopeless.  But, if we just dig in, commit to doing the work, don't listen to the advice of the "world" but walk in the spirit...one day, maybe a year down the road we realize that at some point, our love started to be re-infused, it started to spread, and it started to grow.  Maybe we can't put our finger on the exact date but we see the results in the relationship and what a beautful thing to watch it blossom and grow.  Sure, we have to keep up the work and keep the weeds out, as you can never stop working on a relationship, but the cycle gets easier if the work is done up front and those seeds planted will reap a mighty harvest one day in the near future.

Isaiah 55:9-11
     "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

     As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth.
     It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

In Him,

JOY