My mom thought that planting pampas grass at her pool was a good idea at the time.
A few years ago, my parents installed a huge, industrial type fence around their pool. My mama was desperately looking for something to soften and camouflage that fence. I had seen some pampas grass at a pool I visited. It looked beachy, kind of like sea oats and it was cheap. They planted a lot of it and it came in beautifully. It did a fantastic job of hiding the fence. Unfortunately, the thicker it got, it also did an awesome job of hiding snakes.
After they had a record-setting year of snakes in their pool, and mama saw a six-foot black snake simply disappear in the grass one day, they decided the pampas grass had to go. The thing is, once that grass gets established, it’s nearly impossible to remove it. They tried everything from bush hogging it to burning it. It was an uphill battle. They did finally get it, but it was very difficult.
Mint is another one of those seemingly innocent garden herbs that grow extremely well.
Mint is another one of those, you have to be careful with, plants. Who doesn’t love mint? It’s great in tea and mint juleps and mojitos. It grows beautifully here in the deep south, but you had better plant it in a pot. If you plant it in the ground, it will take off like wildfire. It’s very invasive and very difficult to get rid of
So, how do you know what and what not to plant? The best answer is usually a relative. There’s usually someone who is closely related to you, who can be a good mentor. But, a garden mentor doesn’t have to be someone who shares our blood. A mentor can be a friend or neighbor. There’s always somebody who knows something about growing things.
We have to be careful in our spiritual lives too about what we plant in our own hearts and minds, as well as in the hearts and minds of people around us. For example, if our church is struggling and we are frustrated and we start spouting off things like, “I hate organized religion.” That thought may take root in our children’s minds or our spouse’s heart. Then when God heals that church or tries to plant us elsewhere, the damage is done. Our family no longer wants to attend church and we know that Jesus loves the church.
There are many other examples like carrying around anger and refusing to forgive others or constantly losing patience with those around us. When we do these things over and over, they begin to take root and can spread like wildfire like the mint or grow so deep that they are nearly impossible to root out, like the pampas grass.
The good news is that Jesus always wants to meet us where we are and help us get on track and the Holy Spirit has some wonderful fruits like peace, patience, kindness and joy to share when we seek them. We also have a loving Heavenly Father who will send Godly mentors our way if we ask and watch for them.
We get to choose what we will plant. It can be beautiful and fruitful or it can provide hiding places for snakes. It really is up to us. What will you plant today?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂