digging rocks

 It's springtime in the Arkansas Ozarks, so that means it's time to play in the dirt!

Well, I guess it's not technically playing in the dirt...I was actually working on prepping the ground for our garden. We've had a small garden the past few years, one we've tried to extend a tiny bit each year.

 

And because this is Arkansas, expanding a garden means digging up a whole lot of rocks. Sometimes, I think that's actually what my garden grows...just rock after rock. I've tossed rocks out each year that I've worked the ground, but that doesn't stop them from working their way up to the surface. I don't mind it too much, though. There's something almost meditative about tossing the little rocks out of the soil, knowing that it will make my garden better.

This year, though, I decided I wanted to try something new. We've got a bunch of farm animals, and I would love to be able to grow some of the things we feed them through the winter when they can't graze. My husband jumped on my plan, jumped on the tractor, and dug up a strip of ground for me.

 

The thing is, this is ground that hasn't ever been turned up before. So although it looks pretty good from a distance (except for how light the soil is--we are needing some rain), when you get up close and personal things are a bit different.

 

One of the cats (Schrodinger, aka Stinky) had to check out the hole left by one of the rocks I removed.

The rocks in this strip of dirt are a bit different than the little ones showing up in the soil that's been worked for so many years.

They are significantly bigger. It takes more work to get them dug out, and sometimes they leave behind some pretty deep holes that have to be filled.

 ...ignore how glaringly white my leg is. It hasn't seen the sun in a long time! 😂

The work can get a little tedious, but even tossing out the big rocks will be worth it if we can grow corn and winter squash that will help feed our animals.

Sometimes, God brings something--or someone--into our lives to turn up the dirt. What gets revealed can be hard, like those rocks. It might reveal attitudes that we need to fix, or thoughts we need to reexamine, or habits we need to look at. We then have a choice: we can go through the hard, tedious work of digging up and throwing out the rocks, or we can just push the dirt back over them and pretend like they aren't there.

Sure, my garden will still produce if I just leave those rocks in place. Some of the plants will be able to push their roots into the ground around them...but some of those plants won't. In our lives, we all have stuff God brings to our attention from time to time. At first, it's like that newly tilled up strip of dirt with big stuff we have to address, the things that are defined biblically as sins. Without getting rid of those things, our lives have very little change of producing fruit. And the fruit that is produced? It will likely be a bit straggly and weak.

Once those big rocks are out of the way, though, God doesn't just leave the soil of our lives alone. He tills it up now and then, pulling up more rocks. These are smaller...maybe a reminder that your temper is still flaring too quickly, or that you're still trying all the things first before turning to Him. Or they could be things that aren't considered sins for everyone, but instead are personal convictions--a place you shouldn't keep going to, or a hobby that's getting in the way of more important things in your life.

I can ignore those rocks. My life will still produce fruit, maybe even the kind of fruit that others point to as an example. But if I don't toss out those rocks, I'll miss out on some of the fruit God has in store for my life. And trust me--those same old rocks just keep turning up if you don't get rid of them!