Dirt, Soil and Groundedness

When we bought our house 8 years ago, we knew one of the basement walls was crumbling a little, but we saw that pouring another foundation wall would not be complicated or expensive to us do-it-yourselfers. So we pressed forward with our purchase. Years past and the wall stayed pretty much unchanged until a couple years ago when we introduced a new kitten into the family. When we saw piles of sand along the floor by the wall, we figured out that the kitten had been scratching at the wall and it was being reduced to a pile on our basement floor. Taking a closer look, we realized that the problem wasn’t really with the home's structure, or even the kitten (although he was helping the process along quite effectively) we had little hairy tree roots coming through the wall! Sure enough, we have 2 large trees in our front yard just 10-12 feet from the foundation wall.
Now, what amazes me about this is that those roots, regardless of how thin and hair-like their stature, were literally destroying the foundation of our home. As usual, my mind immediately begins to compare the activity in my basement to life in general. This parallel came to mind:

The tree, using the resources that God provides like rain and sunshine, grows where we can see and where we cannot see. Underground pushing things out of the way, conquering whatever tries to stop it from growing and fulfilling God’s will for it. Even a solid concrete wall 8 or so inches thick was not too much for my little tree roots.
Like the tree, we have resources provided by God as well, (His word, perseverance, strength to do ALL things through Him, humility, self-control) In the same way it is possible for us to conquer even our strongest oppressors!
I’m pretty sure that it has taken many years for those roots to turn my foundation to sand, but they never give up, pushing onward and forward. As long as the tree lives, there is never any temptation to quit. To see those fragile little fibers finally poking their heads into my lower level is a reminder to me of God’s strength in our weakness. Those roots wouldn’t be where they are today without it.

God uses things around us to illustrate his word every day, if we’re open to seeing it. I’m glad I stopped before I soak my basement wall with Round-up to hault this underground invasion, to see the wonders of the Father at work and praise His name for his power and strength in my weakness.


Psalm 18:1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me; [1]
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

I didn’t intend to start my blog with thoughts about the ‘dirt’ in my life, but today it just happened. My 24 year old son, Caleb came home from school today. He is sick to his stomach. You’re probably thinking, “well there is a bug going around, he’s probably caught it.” The fact is he didn’t catch any bug that’s going around or virus that will pass in a couple of days. He has been afflicted with a condition called Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome since he was about 8 years old. You can read more about it at www.cvsaonline.org. Over the years he’s had more than 100 vomiting ‘episodes.’ More so than the actual vomiting, the nausea is the worst part. He is constantly nauseated for days and days at a time, the only relief comes when he is actually able to emit anything that is in his stomach. After several days, his body is weak and battered from the constant wretching.

Now, I have no idea why God allows this to happen. I have laid on the floor outside his bedroom door and cried out to God begging Him to take this away from him. Even pleading for Him to put it on me instead. The episodes happen less and less as he’s getting older and we figure out certain triggers (similar to migraine headache triggers)

We all have something in our life thats 'dirty'. Some people will suffer from cancer, others with addictions, still others with all kinds of abuse at the hands of people they trust. Through it all we must cling to God and know that he loves us and has a wonderful life planned for us, not here on this earth, but with Him in the place that He has gone to prepare for us. In spite of all the ‘dirt’ in our lives, God is still God. He is still Awesome, He is still Sovereign, He is still Good. Give your ‘dirt’ to Him and he will turn it into a beautiful garden of hope.

Take comfort in the word of God:

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?
To the choirmaster. A Maskil [1] of the Sons of Korah.

Psalm
42:1 As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God? [2]
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation [3] 6 and my God.

Welcome! It is my intention to make this blog a place where you can visit and have your strength in the Lord renewed. I will share biblical truth, life experience and humor as it relates to several areas of life that I enjoy. Hopefully, you will go away encouraged and comforted. Please be patient during my construction progress. Feel free to leave comments! God bless!

Nancy