Today as I was washing dishes at my kitchen sink, my eyes travelled out the window to my back lawn. It looked rather beaten up after the recent rain storms and my first thought was, “Wow! That sure needs to be mowed.” But then, I looked again. Popping up all over the green space were little touches of bright sunny yellow. Dandelions! And I smiled. I know they can be a gardener’s nightmare, but personally, I like Dandelions. They are bright and cheerful and grow everywhere, whether you want them to or not. They are tough little flowers and can withstand quite a bit of abuse. As I finished washing my dishes I kept on glancing outside, feeling my spirit soar each time my eyes were greeted with the little splashes of yellow that danced across my lawn. I wondered why so many of us want to rid our gardens of them.


Do you have weeds in your life? I know I do. Those little undesirable imperfections in our appearance or in our abilities can frustrate us to no end! Our instinct is to work harder and harder trying to reach our perception of perfection; to rid ourselves of all our “flaws”. But, the harder we try to reach perfection, the farther it is from our grasp and a cloud settles over us. We feel like failures - unsuccessful, unbeautiful, untalented and just not good enough.

But, do you know that is not true? We are made perfectly in our Father’s eyes. He loves us and considers us to be precious to Him. He loves everything about us, including the “imperfections” and little weeds in our lawns. Because He loves us, we are beautiful.

“You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” Song of Solomon 4:7

Beautifully created by the Master Gardner’s hands, our uniqueness and our differences from one another add variety to His garden. What we may look upon as a flaw, He will use for His glory. When we look beyond ourselves and focus on Him, He will shape our inner beauty, which is so much more valuable than what the world sees. He changes what we think of as undesirable weeds into beautiful Dandelions dancing through life for Him.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14

As I sit here at my computer and think about what I consider to be weeds in me, I am smiling. I know that in my weakness and where I am lacking, God’s strength will show. When I focus on Him and not on myself, allowing His Hand to shape my character, His beauty will shine. We are so much more than just weeds. When we allow God to tend us, we are just like the little Dandelions on my lawn, bright lights, full of God’s beauty shining in His garden.

Personally, I like Dandelions, and you know what?  God does, too.

Looking to Him,






18 Comments

  1. What a beautiful post Joan!!! We are His masterpiece, wonderfully and uniquely made. May we focus more and more on Him! Blessings xxx

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  2. Thanks, Natasha! Yes, we are beautiful in His eyes...and His eyes are the ones that matter! May we continue to shine for Him!


    Blessings, Joan

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  3. Love what you wrote, Joan! - "When I focus on Him and not on myself, allowing His Hand to shape my character, His beauty will shine." This is exactly what we need to remember...it's so easy for us to focus on our imperfections, but He sees us as so much more than weeds! (By the way, I've loved dandelions since I was young...remember making strings of dandelion necklaces with them? :)

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  4. I remember the necklaces, too! Did you ever hold a Dandelion under your chin to "see if you liked butter"? lol My prayer is that my focus stays on Him. I want to shine with HIS beauty!


    Blessings, Joan

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  5. Thank you Joan. What a wonderful, joyful blog. Dandelions remind me of the good times with my friend Anneke, when we were young. We made whistles of the flower stems. Have you ever tried that? I am very happy with the biblical message in your blog. Yes, I am precious in His sight. I love dandelions. Yellow stars in the grass.

    http://kostbaar.blogspot.nl/

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  6. Hi! I've never made whistles with the flower stems, but I'll have to try it! I'm still a kid at heart! :) What a blessing it is to be hand crafted by God!


    Blessings, Joan

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  7. Sharita KnoblochMarch 07, 2014

    Brilliant, Joan, BRILLIANT! I am loving your analogies with faith... It's totally my jam. I know I am full of dandelions, but each one of those pesky quirks is really an opening for God's glory to shine.


    Thanks for this great post and thanks for linking up with #EverydayJesus.

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  8. Wow...thanks, Sharita! Your comment sure made me smile! I don't know how the idea hit me except when I looked out my window yesterday and saw those Dandelions, I was full of joy...even though they were "weeds". I think God was using them to bring cheer to my quiet day and to remind me that I'm ok! He loves me and I am praising Him!


    Blessings, Joan


    P.S. By the way...the Dandelions are still there and today there are even more of them! I love it!

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  9. Great post! And little guys love dandelions. Maybe that's another lesson we can learn from children. I'm here from the Spiritual Sundays link up!

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  10. I love dandelions!! They were always what my kids brought me little bouquets of when they were younger. Such happy flowers. Love the lesson here. Heart Hugs, Shelly <3

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  11. Thanks, Kirra! I agree...we can learn much from children! Blessings, Joan

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  12. I absolutely agree! They are happy and cheerful and always make me smile! I think it is the same when God looks at us :)


    Blessings, Joan

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  13. I often ask myself at what point I am more concerned about my outward appearance instead of what I wear in my heart? I am pretty sure that what I wear or what kind of hair day I have (ha ha!!) doesn't have near the impact on others as what is in my heart. I need to be much more concerned about those "weeds" that get tangled up inside! :) Love this post Joan...and yup; I rather enjoy the pretty yellow dandelions too! :)

    Love and blessings ... can't wait to see you...woo hoo! ♥

    Denise

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  14. Oh yes. It is so easy to get caught up in the external things and to compare ourselves to others. But, that is not what is important. The character of our heart carries much more weight than outward appearance. :-)


    Two more days! Yeah! I can't wait!


    Love, Joan

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  15. As a girl, I enjoyed dandelions. Not the yellow bloom but when they were ready to blow (and I could make a wish as the seeds flew!) I probably irritated many neighbors when I did this! As an adult, I didn't like them. They were a yard nuisance and that was all they were to me. Then I checked out a book at the library by Hans Christian Andersen, "There Is A Difference". Wow! My heart melted and I've never felt the same again towards dandelions! Thank you for reminding me about this story...I may have to add his book to our home library :) Blessings!

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  16. Carrie,


    I've never heard of that book by Hans Christian Anderson...I'll have to look it up and see what he said about them! Oh, and yes...I still love to blow the seeds from the Dandelions and watch them fly. In fact, yesterday, I was tempted to do that to my back lawn to ensure even more little yellow splashes to brighten my day!


    Thanks for stopping by!


    Blessings, Joan

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  17. My boys used to pick the dandelion leaves to feed to their rabbits, they are edible and high in vitamins. What you said regarding weeds in our lives is true, we all have those things we don't like about ourselves, but the funny thing is, the thing we don't like is usually the thing someone else would rather have (than what they got)...like curly hair (or straight) or dimpled cheeks. I guess one man's weed is another man's flower? (or woman's) It seems to be human nature. When God looks at us I'm sure He sees exactly what He made - beauty, created in His image.

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  18. The more and more I hear about dandelions, the more l like them! You are right about our human nature not being satisfied with how we have been made. It's good to remember that That's now what God thinks when He looks at us!


    Blessings, Joan

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