I had a rather drunk relative this weekend (who felt he/she was being judged for being a drunk) make the comment that I needed to look in my own backyard before judging him/her.  So, on our long 11 1/2 hour drive home yesterday, I spent most of that time thinking about my own backyard and what I need to do to help it out.

Well. like most backyards, mine does tend to get weeds in it.  You know, weeds are the things that pop up unexpectedly and where you least want them.  And, if you do not get them out soon, they will choke out the good and take over.  Some weeds that I have allowed to pop up again and again are the TV, music and not monitoring friendships closely.  So, after much prayer and heart searching on the way home, I am now convinced that I have let some things go and I must get back to how things used to be.  Cable will  be turned off this week.  I will once again become the nosey and annoying mom (not their words, but mine) when friends are around.  And, I will also do a mp3 check on the music that is on it.  Internet is not a problem because of our filter and everything comes straight back to me anyhow, so I know everything going on there. 

I also have flowers in my backyard.  My family are my flowers.  I was thinking about what it takes to make a flower grow and be beautiful.  A flower must be watered and fed and fertilized.  Weeds kept away and a nice surrounding are important as well.  When I look at my children, I realize that not only do they, like a flower, need to be fed, but fed the right stuff.  Internally, we do eat, for the most part, very balanced diets.  We do drink a lot of water as well.  However, my children also get fed with the Word.  They know the Bible and it is my goal that they live it out.  They mess up at times (well, so do I), but they know how to get back on the right track. We sprinkle fertilizer on them daily with our daily prayers as parents.  However, if we allow the weeds like mentioned above to come in, that can totally kill spiritually and physically if we do not pluck it out very fast.  And we also monitor their surroundings.  We know what is upstairs in their rooms.  We monitor where they go as well.  It is so important to try to keep track of what goes into their minds and hearts.

I also have some bushes that need to be pruned or they will not blossom as well the next season.  Once again, at times we get too far into worldly things and we have to  cut back.  We have to trim those branches back so that they will develop into even more beautiful flowers next year. If we don't the evdence is there for everyone to see.  An ugly branch  could have been something beautiful if only someone would have taken the time to properly care for it.

May I encourage you, moms, to take the time to weed, prune, water and feed your flowers.  The enemy comes in sneaky, and want to take them out slowly, just like a weed.  You can do something about it.