Happy Teachers' Appreciation week!!! As a fellow-teacher and mom of 3, I know what a HUGE difference teachers make in the lives of their students. As a way of saying thank you, I am hosting HUGE sales in both of my online stores this week--both at Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook. Simply follow the links below to take advantage of the savings. And THANK YOU, teachers, for all that you do each day!
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| http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Shannon-Bryants-Brain-Train http://www.teachersnotebook.com/shop/shannonbryant75 |
This week's post from Mimi is such a great one. Problems arise, but we do not have to let them steal our joy! Lots of love, Shannon :-)
Cheap Watering Hoses
Many, many years ago I was struck with the grandiose thoughts of authoring a book in time for Mother’s Day in honor of the precious Mom I lost to cancer. It would be in her honor, but more importantly, it would be about the journey I had been on. Before the Internet, blogging, and posting were a way of life, my laptop was a spiral notebook. I posted my thoughts with a pencil, corrected them with its eraser, and changed the flow of my ideas with a bottle of white-out!!!!
In any event, my book was going to be entitled something about “Cultivating a Garden” as it applied to our walks in life. I hoped to intertwine my genuine love for growing a garden with the growing of my faith. This rainy morning I can clearly recall my original thoughts and points about the rewards of planting and harvesting. Spiritually, I interjected principles on the stark reality of storms and the barren seasons of our lives. The longer we live, the more we recognize that we need sheltering from storms and direction in droughts.
As the years passed, my children grew up, my seasons changed, and my time was gone for great authorship…and here I am. I am happily typing—not of those grand principles of life—but of my crimped water hose, my lack of patience, and stolen joy. Just as we all have our seasons in our gardens; we all have our days of kinks in watering hoses. But they should not occur every day, with every watering.
I must have a personal attachment to my yards and yards of garden hoses, because I have had them for quite some time—long enough to replace numerous seals and patch many holes. Just last week I discovered tiny new holes, complete with tiny sprays that I now have to avoid as I water my plants and garden. You can hardly see the openings, but you quickly feel the cold spray of the water!!!! Maybe it is because I drag these hoses over concrete sidewalks, through wooden decks, and around brick walls in order to stretch the width of my yard; they are in such pitiful condition. (Or maybe it is just because one of my hoses was very cheap to begin with!!!)
All of this does not really disrupt my watering or cause me much dismay, that is until my hose kinks and my water flow stops completely!!!! My irrigating goes on as pleasurable as planned, until such a kink occurs. I lift the hose to try to shake it out and tug on the line to try to pull it out, but to no avail. I then retrace my steps to locate the kink and with my hands, straighten out the folds in my cheap hose.
Irritated for the moment, all pleasure is gone. Grrrr…I make my 3rd trip to fix the same hose. My love over the years for gardening has been quickly replaced by my irritation in the moment. My joy in the doing has quickly given way to a lack of patience when I purposely stomp like a disgruntled child to straighten my crimped hose with an expression of “ugh”.
No great insightful points are written here this rainy morning, only one astute observation. At some point, I need new hoses. And at some point we all do, literally or figuratively. We all need to rid ourselves of unwise, unsafe, or unhealthy heartfelt attachments—be they crimping hoses, unpleasant habits, or harmful relationships—for the sake of our joy. Don’t let what you love to do be so easily inundated with irritations from something insignificant, when you own the fix.
For the past 3 days I have had plenty of rain, but as soon as the sun shines again, I am off to purchase 3 new 100’ hoses and put my other five cheap, patched ones in the bin for trash day. The necessity of daily watering may still be a challenge, but kinking hoses will no longer be a reoccurring irritation that I allow to steal the joy of harvesting in my garden. Blessings, Mimi (AKA Anne)
James 1:19-21 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
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