GRASS OR A WEED?

I am a new blogger and new at setting this up, so please be patient as I learn ---

Introduction

Mary’s Moments started at a church committee meeting. If you just emitted a groan, I know you are a committee member. At this particular meeting, it was brought to our attention that the weekly church paper could use some articles. The next question was, “Who would be willing to help?”

If you are a true committee member, you know how many hands went up. Did you guess zero? Bingo! Everyone just looked up to the ceiling or doodled on any available paper. Would no one step up?

Someone said, “Okay. Okay. I will write a monthly article. I will write Mary’s Moments. Will that help?” All of a sudden, I realized that the someone who just spoke up was me. Mary’s Moments was born and has been an almost-every-month article, since .

You will find Mary’s Moments sometimes has references to our family. That would be my husband Bill, our son Bill and his children, Kailyn and Nathan, and our daughter Terri, her husband Jon and their children, Matthew, Joshua, Noah and Timothy.

Each devotional includes a scripture to read. I encourage you to find other scriptures and to read them and write them down. The scriptures, I have used, are from the New International Version.

You will also find the beginning of a prayer. Praying can be hard sometimes, so I have started a prayer for you, but you are to finish the prayer in your own words. Prayers do not have to be long. They do not have to be eloquent. They just have to honest, from your soul.

My goal is to give you encouragement in your faith, help for each day and the realization that we all have shared experiences. I also hope to give you a smile and will make you feel better about this world and the people in it.

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TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12

GRASS OR WEED?

As I stood looking out at Bill mowing off the weeds, I got to thinking about the dry brown grass and the tall green weeds. Which would I rather be? Grass or weeds? The grass, when we have rain, is so green and soft under foot. Everybody likes grass. It is just right for wiggling toes in or laying a baby on while they nap. Now it is dry. And brown. And does not feel good to bare toes. When the rain comes, it will turn green again. It is just waiting to be nourished.

The weeds seem to be doing just fine without the much-needed rain. They are still growing. They are still green. No one likes weeds, but there they are. In the flowerbed. In the yard. In the garden. In the corn and soybeans. Why do they do so well when everything else seems to suffer in the heat and drought?

Guess the grass and weeds are a lot like people. Some people face hard times like the grass. They do not have a reserve of strength or strong roots to support them. Some people just wait for trouble to blow over. They wait for the “rain” to come to them.

Other people are like the weeds. They are strong in the good times, when they are well fed and watered. BUT – they are also strong when the times are hard. They find an inner strength to stand up to the heat and they have roots to reach down for the water.

Yes, I think I want to be a weed. I want a faith that keeps me strong when times are good. BUT -- more importantly, I want a faith that can stand up to the heat and a faith with roots that will draw up the help I need when my body or soul may be dry.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

So, do you want to be grass or a weed? Or are you sometimes grass and sometimes a weed?

LET US PRAY

Dear God, Today I thank you for faith that is solid in the word. Because then I know I can find my way through trials and resist temptations. Continue to water and feed my soul. You strengthen my faith every time I ………………………………… Amen