Weeding

Yesterday I spent part of the afternoon pulling weeds.

I'm struggling with the concept of living in a rental house again after owning our home for almost 10 years. There is a level of responsibility and effort one puts into their own home, as it belongs to you: it's not only where you live, it's an asset.

A rental is different. Yes, I want to take care of it (because it's not my property), but the level of care sometimes becomes difficult find the cutoff line. So for example the back yard: I spent about two hours pulling out thistles and dandelions. With every pull, I started to see another five that I had missed. As I go over to grab those, eyeing the limp pile of greens in the wheelbarrow and calculating space in the garbage (already filled with leaves), my thoughts start to wander to areas I could clean up, or maybe re-establishing a section of grass, or what would I do if...

And then I snap back. This is a rental. Any effort I put it, while perhaps personally rewarding and giving Na Clann more lawn to romp through, is simply effort that will stay behind me when we go - which we will someday, one way or another.

And then I realize that my life is no different.

We are all just renting time in these bodies. They'll be returned to the Owner someday, and everything we did to them and through them and the things that we got to make their existence more pleasant will be left behind when we move on - which we will someday, one way or another. All the effort and time on the exterior, all the things we had to make them more livable, all the things we expended effort and time and resources on - all will be left behind, leaving us to meet with the Owner.

His question will not be "How did you beautify the rental? What did you fill it with?" but "How did you serve and glorify me?"

Let us endeavor to so work and live that our answer will not be "I made the yard more beautiful for myself."