I made this same mistake once before, back in California.
I put fertilizer on my lawn.
I'm not even sure why I did that. I think my yard was looking a little grim and I wanted to help it look green and lush. It's the strangest thing - the fertilizer worked. In fact, it worked so well that I ended up cutting my grass about three times a week for awhile. I had envisioned wonderful growth and I even wanted to see that happen - but everything that would come along with that growth never crossed my mind.
That happened years ago.
It happened so long ago, in fact, that I made the same mistake this year without ever giving my earlier experience in California a second thought. This year, I bought fertilizer and applied it to my yard. I even followed the directions carefully to make certain that it would have its full effect. And believe it or not, it worked. In fact, it is working so well that later today I'll cut my grass for the third time in a week.
And, yes, it was my idea to have a two-acre yard.
I guess I never really thought that some fertilizer would have that kind of impact.
Growth is a funny thing.
Most of us would say that growth is a good thing. We want to grow spiritually. Or we want to grow stronger in a physical sense. Or we want our children to grow. We might want our churches to grow. Or we might want our business to grow. We might even want the economy to grow. It's hard to argue against any of those things.
At the same time, we might be wise to consider the consequences of growth. Growth has to be maintained, dealt with, accounted for. Growth, even when it looks good, presents new challenges. Growth calls for our attention and it might require more work.
So do we want to grow? Of course we do!
But as we take the steps that make growth possible, we should probably consider all the things that will accompany the growth.
For today at least, I have a beautiful yard. I'm partly responsible for that. And I love it. It is exactly what I wanted. But I never considered exactly how much extra attention it would require.
Yes, growth is good. But even with something as good as growth, we should move toward it with our eyes wide open.
Most of us would say that growth is a good thing. We want to grow spiritually. Or we want to grow stronger in a physical sense. Or we want our children to grow. We might want our churches to grow. Or we might want our business to grow. We might even want the economy to grow. It's hard to argue against any of those things.
At the same time, we might be wise to consider the consequences of growth. Growth has to be maintained, dealt with, accounted for. Growth, even when it looks good, presents new challenges. Growth calls for our attention and it might require more work.
So do we want to grow? Of course we do!
But as we take the steps that make growth possible, we should probably consider all the things that will accompany the growth.
For today at least, I have a beautiful yard. I'm partly responsible for that. And I love it. It is exactly what I wanted. But I never considered exactly how much extra attention it would require.
Yes, growth is good. But even with something as good as growth, we should move toward it with our eyes wide open.