Pluck Them Eyes

Two women wanted to meet me, see my home.

Marriage does that…opens doors to kinfolk who are strangers, welcomes them as family. How could I know God would use their visit to pluck my eyes.

Avid gardeners, these women wanted to see my yard.

Spring colors littered the landscape. Lavender plants, yellow Columbine, blue Chinese Forget-Me-Not, red Camellias, and pink Azaleas soaked up the afternoon sun. Iris and Day Lilies just shy of blooming swayed in the gentle breeze.

My guests cooed over each plant as though they were my children. But sadly, …

All I noticed were the weeds.

April showers and procrastination had kept me from my garden. Dead limbs needed amputation. Wild stalks of grass as tall as my kneecaps vied for attention. Dandelions growing between the flagstone steps were so plentiful I could have made Dandelion Wine.

I cringed as we walked the garden path. Confessed flimsy excuses. My guests seemed blind to the weeds, or were being polite.

When they drove away, I yanked one thorny weed out of the ground and threw it down. A warning to the stubborn weeds, “Your day will come!”

BUT as I washed the dirt from my manicured nails, I got to thinking ….

For a woman who tends to view her circumstances through rose-colored glasses, I have a problem with critical eyes.

Critical eyes magnify the negative.

Like the weeds, a pimple on my face is a giant red flag on an otherwise healthy epidermis. I see the lack of muscle tone in my legs instead of their ability to walk. I focus on the crumbs on my kitchen counter instead of the food in my pantry.

When I’m doing housework,  I can’t see the clean for the dirt. And I’ll spot a 76% on my son’s schoolwork quicker than I notice three 100’s.

I’m being honest here.

Critical eyes pinpoint Faults in people instead of their Gifts.

Critical eyes breed self-righteousness.

Or paranoia, because surely other people look at me with equally critical eyes.

Critical eyes access everything

And finds no one, and nothing, is good enough.

Not even me.

So this week, I’m pulling weeds from my garden. And by God’s grace, and for the health of my soul, I’m plucking my critical eyes.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22).