Everybody Wants Everybody Else's Green Grass

My neighbor’s grass is sweet. It's plush, dark green and voluptuous. I wish I could have grass like that. I’m not sure how he does it. I never see him cut it. I never see him fertilize it. I never see weeds. Yet it looks AMAZING. Sometimes I just want to roll around in his yard like a beached whale. But I maintain my composure.

My grass is struggling. There are weeds all in it. It's brown and decaying. Yet, I’m convinced that my grass grows faster than anyone else’s. I’m pretty sure I mowed like yesterday and pretty much had to mow again today. I really despise mowing. But I like the final outcome. Sometimes I make a game out of it. Like tonight it was getting dark on me, so I started running as I was mowing. It was like a 2-for-1 deal – Mow the grass and get my run on. That’s right.

As I was finishing up the front yard, I noticed that a small crowd had gathered at the front door to watch the spectacle freak show. Rainy, Zeke, and Mommy – all gathered at the storm door with beaming eyes and popcorn in hand.

What I observed in the next few minutes of making passes by the front door left me laughing to no end. Zeke had all eyes glued on me and the lawn mower – more so the lawn mower. He loves manly stuff like that. He loves when I break out the power tools (Although he’ll probably change his tune when he’s 13 and I make him do the yard work).

Rainy is much different. As I held Zeke’s attention, Rainy was busy grooming Zeke. Yes, that’s right - Grooming - like a stinkin' Pan troglodytes. She had just watched Tasha clean Zeke’s ears after a bath, and so she thought she would jump in on the action. Zeke could have cared less. He was homed in on me. Rainy was homed in on earwax.

In those moments I thought how creative God must be – two kids, so close in age, so similar in appearance, yet so entirely unique. It’s unbelievable how God uses those kids in my life every day to teach me things – to remind of simple spiritual truths that I often forget – like just being who God created me to be.

Why is it that we always think we have to be exactly like someone else? Even among believers it’s easy to get caught up in that game. We tend to think that the grass is greener on the other side rather than enjoying and appreciating the uniqueness of God’s intricate designs in us. I don’t want my kids to ever think they have to fit a certain mold – to be the exact cookie cutter of everyone else. The unique individual parts of the body of Christ are what make His body so beautiful – and that’s what brings unity and maturity among the body (Ephesians 4:11-13).

(Granted – I will probably have to do something professional to my yard pretty soon before the weeds take over, but that exceeds the bounds of this analogy.)

So, kids, be you. Rainy, keep grooming Zeke, as long as he doesn’t mind. Zeke, keep banging on your little Fisher Price tool bench, as long as Mommy doesn’t mind. And one day, use the spiritual gifts and personality God has given you to put a mark on this world for the kingdom of God.