Give Me Dandelions

It’s April in Central PA.  And that means the weather is unpredictable at best and highly annoying at worst.  We’ve had stretches of rain, followed by cool temperatures in the 30’s and then today…WHAM…75 degrees.  With rain forecast for the next three days, I decided to mow before my yard turned into a pond.

In the daily scurry of activity, I hadn’t noticed the dandelions that dotted the yard.  Their little yellow blooms bringing color to an otherwise green landscape.  Many people view them as weeds, spending time and money to irradicate them.  I, on the other hand, love them.

Before the invention of lawns, people praised dandelions and their leaves for use as food and medicine.  I remember my grandpap picking them and making dandelion salad.  People used to weed out grass to make room for dandelions.  They have been used in Chinese medicine for over a thousand years and probably came to North America on the Mayflower, brought for their medicinal benefits.  

But sometime in the 20^th century, humans decided they were weeds.  The irony is that dandelions are good for your lawn.  Their wide-spreading roots loosen hard-packed soil, aerate the earth, and help reduce erosion.  Dandelions actually fertilize the grass.  

So why all the talk about dandelions?  Because I think dandelions represent a common problem for so many Christians.  They symbolize a mindset driven by misconceptions and misplaced expectations.  A “not good enough” attitude that feeds a life focused on lack.  A mentality that blinds us to God’s grace and His gifts.

My favorite flowers are peonies and lisianthus.  Both are beautiful blooms with ruffles of petals.  They certainly are fancier than the run of the mill dandelion.  But they require effort on my part if I want to grow them and enjoy them.  It’s easy to place more value on them because I planted them.  I watered them. I pruned them.  I take undue credit for and pride in their creation.  And when gathering flowers to decorate my home, I ignore the lowly dandelion; it isn’t good enough to add to my vase.  This flower -reminiscent of sunshine – that God has simply given to me.  It requires nothing of me but to accept it.

How often do we overlook the provision of God because it isn’t what we want.  It doesn’t measure up to our expectations.  How often do we not appreciate what has been given to us because we think we deserve more?  Better?  Different?  

We don’t appreciate our job because we think we deserve more recognition.

We bemoan our financial situation because we don’t have as much as “they do.”

We criticize our bodies because they don’t look like we think they should.

We are disappointed with what we have because we are constantly searching for what we want.

We want peonies when God has blessed us with dandelions.

We all live in seasons of lack.  God doesn’t promise us power ball winnings, the perfect body, or a job that fills you with joy every day.  Sometimes, life is hard.  Sometimes there isn’t enough money to pay all the bills.  Sometimes our bodies hurt or ache.  And sometimes, work just isn’t fun.  But God.

But God is still good.

But God is still faithful.

But God will still provide.  It just may not be what you expected. 

But it will be what you need.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to face my Father in heaven having chosen a life in pursuit more – when He had already given me everything.  Last year, God convicted me that I had a choice to make.  To focus on the lack or the blessing.  To sit with the “wish I had” or dance with the “provision of God.”  Even when it doesn’t look like what I expected or hoped.  To trust that what I have been given is precisely what I need.  To know that it is not by my will, but His, that my life will fulfill His mission.  

So, while I do love my peonies and lisianthus.  I think I prefer the dandelions.