The Dandelion Invasion

We had a mother-daughter walk on a good weather day, it was nice to do as we got a chance to chat, laugh and play. We both find dogs scary so we were both alert and ready to cross to the other side of the road if we had to. During our walks, we love to stop along the nearby park for a good ride on the swing and we did that too. It was fun to watch us propel ourselves on the swing just by adopting the right leg motion. Shortly after, the rest of the family joined in, they had taken a different route that also had the park as a connecting point. They joined us on the swing until we decided to keep walking.

As we walked home, my daughter asked about the weed invasion in our neighbourhood. In her words, “why does weed grow faster than grass?”

“And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.”

Matthew 13:7 NKJV

I had a few answers up my sleeves and a lesson too. When we moved into our house, we inherited a weed problem with zero grass on our lawn. Everything was gone, just thorns and thistle. They looked green but they were sharp and could pierce through your feet. How could a lush green yard become a den of lions, you will wonder? The answer is simple – the absence of care – the tender loving kind, another word for that is carelessness.

“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.

MATTHEW 13: 24-25 NKJV

Like the weed in our yard was not enough problem, it looked like the city got a dandelion invasion. In my estimation, a dandelion invasion is the worse kind of weed attack. Those things grow overnight, if food grew like that, we would have solved world hunger. Dandelions have feather-looking like seeds that get blown all over the place with the wind, once they take root, it spreads like wildfire. It presents itself as a yellow flower but it is not a flower, it is a weed, bad for your yard and your neighbourhood. I have watched every house in my neighbourhood mow their lawn in the evening, wave the dandelions goodbye, and wake up to more dandelions in the morning on the same spot that was previously mowed. This was not their carelessness, but sometimes in life when one person is careless because we are so connected, we also get to pay the price for their carelessness.

The weed and fresh grass remind me of our lives, our heart is like a field, and every day we plant seeds in our heart. We don’t get to choose the seeds that are on the shelf of life but we certainly have the choice over the ones that we allow to take root. Some seeds are good, others present themselves as good but are bad like the dandelion while others are straight-up bad. The good and bad seeds are easy to spot and walk away from. The ones that present themselves as good are a bit trickier to maneuver so sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking we can overcome it.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:21-22 KJV

I watched a movie that feels a lot like a dandelion, with a seemingly good storyline, and a few warnings but I decided it can not be that bad. I wanted to see the end of it all, how could I walk away from all that thrill and suspense without seeing it to the logical conclusion. I told myself a lie, now hours after, the images are still in my head, the thoughts in my mind and the emotions fighting to sip through in mini doses into my actions. I should have stopped but I did not because it was only a suspense movie. As I reflect on my actions, I was careless or maybe over-confident in my ability to take “it” (whatever the movie presented).

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

1 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV

Now we have thorns, thistles, and dandelions to deal with, I suspect it will take the city to deal with the dandelions. I watched the work getting done on our lawn through the window and would like to explain the process. We had to uproot the entire topsoil, till the ground, water it, and introduce fresh soil before we could plant new grass. The dandelions will require a bigger army to fight it because as long as our neighbours have it, the wind will blow the seeds in our direction at some point.

What is that thing that appears to be good or even outright bad that you are giving room for in your heart or home? Evil does not manifest in big doses, it is a subtle takeover choking out the good little by little until there is none left. Sometimes you can handle it by choosing differently, and continuing to practice the daily disciplines that come from your relationship with God,  other times you need to surrender and let the Holy Spirit work on you.

When the dandelions invaded, our home was not left out, we have some work to do to recover our yard and so do you.

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