Dandelions

Ever since planting a few cucumber, basil, sunflower, and dill seeds in my new "garden" I've become more interested in plant life in general. While my husband drives on the highway, I usually point out the things we're passsing by to my boys. My 3 year old pointed to the "yellow fow-ers" mixed in with the weeds and asked what they were. I differed to my husband, as I definitely do not proclaim to have anywhere near a green thumb. He told us they were dandelions. I asked how they managed to grow intermingled with the weeds and in otherwise desolate areas. He said they were weeds. Weeds?!


Okay, so most people probably already knew that a dandelion was a weed, but I (the person who can't sustain an indoor potted plant) was shocked. How could something so beautiful be considered as undesirable as weed? Then I got to thinking, that's a metaphor for us humans. All of us have been thought of as less than or not good enough by someone at some point in time. None of us are perfect, but most of us do a good job at keeping up appearances otherwise. Our families are perfectly coiffed at church on Sunday, we go to work smelling like designer perfumes and soaps and we cook delicious (or at the very least edible) meals. But, what lurks under that?


Underneath all of our "doings" that we're consumed with daily, we're just a bunch of weeds. A mass of mistakes and missteps and hiccups. God is the only one that can see all of the imperfections, mean-spirited thoughts and fears that we struggle to hide. He hears our pleas for forgiveness, strength and wisdom and He's not afraid to wade through our tangled weeds to get to us. He is awesome. I can't even begin to understand why He loves us in spite of our mess. 


Wikipedia calls dandelions "beneficial weeds". That's probably how God sees us too. We're beneficial to His kingdom in a multitude of ways regardless of our pasts. He's given some of us the gift of song, others dance, others writing or acting or drawing. The ways in which He has blessed us are limitless, but the point is that we are beautiful and special to Him, despite our unkempt roots (inside and out on top of our heads). Just like a gifted dandelion can bring a smile to this mom's face from her dirty toddler (filthy is more like it), our outward expressions of our talents can bring others joy too. 


On the outside we blossom as beautiful flowers, despite all odds. Dandelions are God's grace manifested. On this Sunday, I thank God for all of his grace and mercy and of course for dandelions, who afterall are just like me.