I know, I know...

So yes, I failed at blogging regularly...already. Only one post in.
Hey, not my fault we have rehearsal every night until about midnight and then I work almost every morning at 6:30am...

Enough excuses. The fact is, pulling weeds is hard work. Very hard work. It's exhausting physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. When you're out there in the field removing weeds sometimes you get stung by unfriendly insects. Other times you may wear the wrong shoes when it starts to rain at which point your shoes get stuck in the mud and you have to continue on barefoot. Sometimes you're swinging too hard and are so sick of trying to remove the weeds that you carelessly knick yourself with the garden hoe. But then there are the times when you perfectly remove a weed, a great big leafy weed with pretty little flowers on the end and then you think this is so pretty it can't possibly be a weed. You know its a weed, you've been told its a weed, you can see its been choking life out of the plant in the field but you can't help but think maybe you've made a mistake and you frantically try to dig up some ground and place the weed, root and all back in the ground. Welcome to my field friends.

In the process of removing the weeds in my life I have been stung. My biggest fear when removing weeds from the garden, both literally and figuratively. Yes, I was stung this summer when spending hours in the tobacco fields but I kept right on working...after some screaming and running away of course :) One of the major weeds I have been struggling to remove is all the drama I invite into my life and sometimes thrive off of. I don't think this is a surprise to any of us that this has been life killer for me. So, at first I thought maybe it was just removing myself from dramatically charged situations that would make the difference. So, I quit my job because that was a high drama situation. That was a great step but I had to go further yet. So then I decided to start cutting ties with those who caused drama and liked drama more than I did. This is when it began to sting. It wasn't that I didn't care about these people because they were some of my best friends, but I knew they were dragging me back down. These people sucked the life out of me because I gave so much to them to get next to nothing in return. Then after I got stung, it started to rain. Things started to get all messy and I didn't know if what I was doing was right anymore. Then my feet got stuck in the mud. I decided I didn't want to go on and I would just stay where I was halfway between miserable and free. But then somewhere amongst all the rain and mud, I saw the sun coming through and decided to keep on going at those weeds. It seemed like the more I tried the more I failed. I wanted to go back and tell those weeds that I missed them and that I wanted to hang out with them and go out with them because they were just so much fun and my life seemed so boring. So I started getting careless and swinging at weeds aimlessly because I didn't really want to remove them. This was a bad idea because it then led me to miss and knick my shin ever so slightly...just enough to realize that I don't want that life full of drama and constant discontent because someone is always cheating on someone or someone is always talking smack about someone else.

So, I have full heartedly been removing weeds from my life for about two or three months now and I can feel the life coming back to me. I am seeing friendships sprouting up again that had withered over the past two years of my stupidity. Friends from my freshman year, some of the very first friends I made at school are back in my life and they are life giving friendships I should never have let go of in the first place. I have a new appreciation and deep love for my family. I have never wanted to talk to or hang out with my family so much in my entire life. Things in my life are finally growing again and I feel like spring has already begun in my life although its still freaking cold here in South Dakota!

So, I have learned that although it may not seem beneficial at first, pulling weeds from your life at the roots will bring life. God is good.