Landscaping. It’s what I do for work. I have done it on and off over the course of four years. Where I am at presently I have learned much. In facing elements… I have had a lot of time to think about things (since any yard and how to attack it becomes quite routine). One of the things I have thought about is how you are paid to sweat so someone doesn’t have too. It’s the nature of the beast in a service based business.

In the Fall, I’ve heard some people say “HELP! I HAVE SO MANY LEAVES IN MY YARD!” I’m like “HONEY… you don’t know the meaning of a LOT OF LEAVES!” In all honestly, I’ve had piles up to my chest, and wading through them is like crossing the Jordan River full of molasses.

I’ve done leaf cleanups the old fashioned way, and I’ve done them with powerful blowers and tools. No matter what tools are used something remains the same. It becomes mechanical with practice. If you do something long enough, you’ll eventually get to the point where it doesn’t matter what yard you are in. You develop a methodology to make the yard look great, and make a client smile. It becomes a Craft to you.

Landscaping is a Craft (at least in my eyes). It also serves me well for the moment. I’ve felt at times the societal peer pressure that says “you should be this, that, here, there, by this time.” I feel that though God may run to save someone… he most often takes the scenic walk after the rescue, so to speak. Since I adsorb more of what is necessary when my soul is still, and attentive to his quiet presence — I’m okay with the detour.

When thoughts that tell me to PANIC over what some people may think about what I do enter my mind… I am reminded that Jesus was a tradesman himself. He was a carpenter. It blows my mind that the one who built the universe by his very word, also built things for others with his very own creation. Whoever was his boss told him what to make for the day — while Jesus made the very wood that he himself was using. Whoa.

Eventually, when all was said and done after the Cross — he now sits at the right hand of the Father (talk about a promotion). He being in glory and splendor beyond compare, I have to wonder what he thinks about. I would imagine that he must think about that time when he was here, on this big ball of dirt. How he lived as one of us — all the while willfully denying the perks of his own deity, in so that we truly could see him as a high priest that we could approach. He is the Humble King. Humble to the point of death, as it says in Hebrews.

We all fit in some way into the purposes and positions of Christ’s Will, and Plan I feel. We should be humble and learn the lessons of the present, and not be so worried about where we are — provided that we are walking with him in daily life. For Jesus, though he made the trees, he was humble enough to build something with them with his own hands. He is the Creator, and also the Craftsman.

He will bring me to where he desires me to be in life. For as he who was capable of building a temple with one word, was also humble enough to build things with his own hands, piece by piece with wood — in the same fashion — he is crafting me into something better in the present moment. I do feel that if I respect his method with building my heart; my soul, and life… my “promotion” shall come. Whatever that may be.

Piece by piece; beam by beam… he is crafting me. He is the Master Craftsman of the cosmos, and also — now and forevermore — of the soul. I am learning to willingly let him be the Master Craftsman of my life. I’d rather it be that way. He is smarter, and far more knowledgeable on what is right for me than I am for myself. Since he made me, he knows the nuances of my blueprint better than I ever could.

He knows you too. He doesn’t desire to be your Master. I feel it is safe to say that INSTEAD he desires to MASTERFULLY CRAFT you into the very best version of you that you can be. To be whole and happy, just like him. To help you be forevermore better, and forevermore brighter.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:12, WEB

Make no mistake… I’m not saying that one should just EXPECT a blessing to fall out of the sky. We are to craft with God. We are to work WITH him. We should ask. We should knock on doors. We should always seek. I’m just saying I’m fed up with putting pressure on my heart that isn’t from Him just because I’m not at a certain place that someone was at in the 1960’s at a certain age. I’m DONE.

Even so, it’s tricky to allow someone else to take the wheel of your car, unless you trust them. It is tricky to let someone touch your heart, unless you trust them. It is tricky to trust God with my life for sure, but without question I know he knows better than I. He has already done better with things than I ever could have done alone. For that I am grateful.

The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

John 10:10, WEB

I hope these thoughts encourage you to trust trust (no that’s not a typo), and that they help you understand that when it feels like there is some chiseling going on in your heart, or in your life… maybe it is Christ’s gentle hands removing a splinter off of your heart; exposing the beautiful grain of your soul, and sanding away the rough edges patiently. He only desires the best for us. That is all he wants. For us to live, and live abundantly.

Thank you for reading.

Blessings! =)