Just call me butter...

'Cause I'm on a roll!! (sorry, a little more of my father creeps out of me every day!) I have successfully checked off every task on my to-do list this week!! Go through and organize the boxes that cluttered my life - check! Get the washer hooked up so I can do laundry - check! Clean the house (aka - remove the carpet of dog hair from my wood floors) - check! Sand and stain the chairs - check! Tame the jungle in the back yard - check! I have cleaned, I have organized, read, worked, written, slept, worked out, listened, talked, sung, laughed and prayed my way through a good week. It is Sunday night, and my body is tired, but happy. I feel good about having accomplished so much this week, and having so much to show for it! And on top of that, I even met another goal two weeks early! Last night I ran my first mile!! (that's right folks, I am now a runner! well...jogger, but still!) I am currently training to run a race with my uncle and cousin next summer. (The Peachtree 10k for those interested) I started from less than scratch and managed to hit a major goal for me early after only three weeks! I was very excited.

Working in the yard today, Carrie (Nathan's stepmom) and I were weeding (ahem, hacking) the area around the fence. We kept finding these vines that were attached to EVERYTHING and were like 10 and 12 feet long. We pulled and clipped and tugged and dug up....until we finally found the root of the problem (sorry, pun intended.) Once we were able to clear away the weeds and overgrown vines, we found the remenants of a peach tree, a grape vine with four grapes on it, three roses bushes, and the most intresting looking tree trunk I have ever seen. The two pictures below are a sort of before and after. The first is what the yard looked like when we first moved in. The second picture is the tree with the cool trunk, which was found under the bush mound see on the right of the first picture.

It was so cool to me that a few hours of sweat and hard work produced something. We started with years of overgrown mayhem, and ended with a yard worth being proud of. I feel like that can be said for my life lately. I am constantly changing and growing, trying to overcome years of neglect in my own spiritual life. Some corners are a little overgrown, and others have weeds that threaten to choke out what could be very beautiful. But with effort, sweat and a good pair of clippers, I am able to weed out the unnecessary, and let what God has planted florish. I know the analogy is a little cheesy - but I really was struck with the beauty of what is hidden behind the brush today.