I have had a rare day with no appointments, no need to leave the house.  It’s so sweet.  After Bible study this morning, I walked around the pasture, following paths that Jim has mowed for the grandkids and for us to enjoy just messing around the pond and on the four-wheeler.  I took some pictures of the pasture in its late summer-transitioning to early fall beauty.  The prolific white Queen Anne’s lace and pink blackberry blooms have been replaced by a multitude of mostly yellow and purple flowers.

I have chosen to spend the remainder of the day in my perennial garden, the one that Wes built for me alongside the garage several years ago even before he married Molly.  It faces east which is nice for morning sun, but because it backs up to the garage, it is sheltered not only from the harsher afternoon sun but also the rain so it stays pretty dry.  It has taken me several years to get some really nice perennials established.  In the meantime, I filled up all the empty spaces with iris and daylilies from my dad’s yard to prevent weeds and to mask the barren spots.  The daylilies are not the common ditch lily variety.  They are doubles and actually very pretty both in the garden and cut for arrangements.  They are drought tolerant, spread easily, and the foliage stays green all summer unlike so many other flowers that grow from bulbs. (This will be my sales pitch when I try to get rid of the bulbs that I have dug up, but more on that later).

Now I have several other plants and seeds to make room for, so the daylilies have to go, and the iris have to be moved so that the placement of the new plants along with what is remaining will be beneficial and attractive.  It’s hard work removing the daylilies.  I have to be sure to get as much of what is under the surface as possible as well as all that is conspicuous.  Even so, I know that I have missed some and will have to keep an eye out next spring for these hardy little plants that will still try to grow and spread to fill the space.   Fortunately, I don’t have many weeds; they haven’t had room to grow.  Weeds are not as much of a problem for me as just so much filler that just is now not the best use of the space.

Trying to get the daylilies out without disturbing the keeper plants is sometimes impossible.  I have broken some stems and pulled up some good baby plants.  Sometimes I have decided it’s better to cut off rather than disturb, and sometimes I can gently replant the sprig I accidentally pulled and the result might be even better.

The best approach is to just get started.  Once I get one clump out, the next victim is in soil that is already loosened a bit from the previous action and might come out with a gentle tug.  Sometimes I have to use some help like a shovel for leverage to get the roots loose, and sometimes I have to plant my feet and pull with all my might.  Sometimes I have to approach from both sides and work toward the middle just to get it to release.  I’m sweaty and dirty, but it’s really satisfying work and I’m finding that I am not grieving over the daylilies nearly as much as I thought I would.  I like my new neat garden.  I can more easily see what I have to mulch and fertilize.

Is it any wonder that Jesus so frequently used agricultural metaphors to teach?  As I have been busy with my hands performing these mundane tasks my mind has been racing with the analogy to this stage of my life.   In March, a huge time commitment was removed from my life:  my job at Caterpillar.  I have spent the past six months investing in my husband and my family, getting to spend more time with them.  I have lost an uncle and aunt, but have had the time to spend with their families which is important.  I have gotten more involved in church, continuing to teach 6^th grade girls on Sunday, serving as a table leader for Chronological Bible Study on Tuesday evenings, participating in a Beth Moore Bible study on Tuesday mornings (on my bucket list), and now leading a Bible study on Wednesday evenings.  Jobs for Life with Christian Women’s Job Corp has just resumed so I have six women I am taking through this program on Monday evenings for the third year.  I have reinvigorated my network and explored opportunities in nonprofits and consulting as well as in HR.  I have continued to be active in Rotary, taken on a project for Second Harvest and Leadership Nashville, and gotten involved on the Cable Program Committee.  I have slept more, worked in the garden, canned, and read.    (I have not spent any more time cleaning my house, and it may not seem like it to anyone else, but that is actually an accomplishment.)
I have really tried to invest and enjoy life and not just feel like my life is on hold until I find my next opportunity.  It’s been six months, and I hope I am closing in on what God has planned for me in terms of a new role; however, His will be done.  If I land soon, I will have to reassess all these good activities, just like I have been digging up the daylilies.  As Jesus says in John 15:2—“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away. And every one that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bring forth more fruit.”

Nothing is bad in and of itself, but all of this stuff cannot grow in the same garden.  The filler will crowd out the important plants and nothing will grow and produce as it should.  The soil itself will just wear out and become barren.  My husband has been hinting at this.  Others have also hinted at this with references to my busyness, my “filler”.  It was clear to me that the daylilies had to go, and I will find a new home for them.  Somebody will benefit from them.  Or they might just go into the trash.  Now I have to also determine what filler in my life will have to go so that I can continue to produce good healthy fruit for the kingdom, and then I will have to either pass it on to someone for whom it will be better suited, or just eliminate it.

It is not a once and done task, I will have to be continually alert to new sprouts and not let them get too big before I cut them back as well.  Voltaire said that the “best is the enemy of the good”, however I think Jim Collins really had it right when he said that “Good is the enemy of great.”  Continued assessment, continued pruning.