The Juniper Bush

    Years ago Dennis talked me into planting juniper bushes in our yard. He thought it would make the yard work easier but they complicated everything from weeding to mowing the grass. We pulled out all of them except one in the side yard which grew on a mound. Underneath the bush lay mesh ground cover to keep the weeds out. Not true! Year after year I tried to ignore it.  I finally decided the bush was going no matter how long or how hard I had to work to get it out! It took one week (off and on between storms) to remove it. (You may be wondering why I didn't ask Dennis to help- be patient there is an analogy here.) I snipped and dug and snipped some more until finally I saw the main root. The root was large and so deep that a tow chain attached to my vehicle was the only way to pull it out. After three or four tries that big old root gave up.
    The work had just begun. The juniper bush was gone but the weeds and gravel had to be hauled away. At the time I wondered what I was thinking! I know what I was thinking- the mound had great potential and although I was tired, I knew the time spent to make it beautiful was worth the work.
    Sometimes we have juniper bushes in our lives. We ignore them or pretend they are not the eye sore they really are. However, we are prompted to make a change so we begin to snip and dig. We see progress. We are encouraged because we can visualize the person we want to become. The root may be removed but our work is not done. And you may ask, "What was I thinking? I'm tired. This is to hard." If we give up to soon what's underneath will still be there keeping us from reaching our full potential. This is work we must do on our own. It may be easier to get some outside help but there are times when the influence of another keeps us from moving forward as we would like.
     So it is with anything we may want to change about ourselves. There is lots to do. We are God's children. All the hours we put into becoming more like him will be worth the work. And definitely worth the wait.