Vines, Part 2

Now that we've cleared about half of our property, we can really see the results. It's like we've made part of our land turn from a jungle to a forest. One of the things we've noticed is how the trees move. Trees were made to bend in the wind so they don't fall over. With large vines in those trees, not only are they getting valuable nutrients sucked out of them, but it adds to the foliage in the canopy. We've had some fairly strong winds recently, and we've lost branches and even have a tree that's partially out of the ground. We realized that these vines also create more of a sail, so instead of the wind passing THROUGH the trees, it was being caught by the trees. Not good. You've got the wind pushing on the tops of trees that are already weaker. Recipe for downed trees.

One of the vines stretched down our driveway

Battle of strength

A vine that my hubs couldn't pull out of the tree. It's the size of my wrist!

In life we have our own version of vines. Things that suck the life from us. Things that keep us from being able to bend and adapt to what life brings. And, just like our property, there's a neverending supply of things. You pluck one, another shows up. However, also like our property, when you can identify enough of those "sucks" and complete them, then you can manage to easily identify the new ones while they are still weak. Or you start getting curious and go looking for those big ones that slipped by. Curiosity has it be fun, like what we've started feeling as our jungle starts looking more like a state park. As we create walking trails and access to a little stream. As we see wildlife we haven't seen before.

In this time, where everything is different and new and scary and frustrating, it's VERY easy to have those "sucks" show up. The difficulty can sometimes be not letting them consume you like the vines did to so many of our trees. Even for me, with a toolbox full of ways to get and keep myself empowered and lots of people on my team that I can call, I still have moments, half days sometimes, where I'm just so consumed by my thoughts and doubts. I'm practicing not resisting, but to just keep swaying in the breeze.

Find grace for yourself in these uncertain times. 💜