Containing The Weasels

 

All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel,
The monkey thought ’twas all in fun
Pop! Goes the weasel.

A penny for a spool of thread
A penny for a needle,
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! Goes the weasel.

Spring is in full swing around the homestead.  We are officially waving goodbye to Winter and gladly opening our arms to the arrival of warmer temps (hopefully), longer evenings, garden and crop planting as well as increased time back outdoors.  The daffodils, hyacinths and crocus are blooming, the grass is green again, the gazillion birds that also call our place home are singing, chirping and filling the air with their sweet songs.  The herd is also busy supplying us with a new batch of babies that are already running, chasing and bounding around the back pasture bursting with joy, gusto and innocence.  

This season always brings new life to our place but the last several years it guarantees death as well and it typically rears it’s ugly head right around my birthday at the hands of a tiny, tenacious, clever, aggressive weasel.  It is my least favorite part in the cycle of Spring at the homestead.  I dislike hate weasels.  They chase and corner my feathered friends then climb up on their backs, biting their heads off resulting in death.  The weasel is only mentioned once in the Bible in the book of Leviticus and it shares a sentence with the word unclean.  I don’t think that’s a coincidence.  I honestly don’t know how the darn things were even allowed on Noah’s Ark to be honest, and not only one but two of the horrible creatures.  If the devil has a pet, I am convinced it would be a blood-thirsty, evil weasel.  Every March this tiny nuisance brings chaos, destruction, death and many tears to my eyes with its sneaky, devious ways until we are able to trap it and put it to rest for one more year.  The week following my birthday several of my favorite black hens lives were cut short by said weasel and I assume the three missing ducks were at the hands of the nefarious monster as well.  I’m praying the disappearance of my newest cat during the same time frame was just a product of normal cat/farm life and not a sign of new found boldness by the dreaded weasels in our area.      

My thoughts have been consumed with the weasel.  I cannot stop contemplating introspectively about the things I let weasel their way into my own home or life.  Not the things we can’t seem to control like sickness, cancers, disease, or death.  My mind is cluttered with the other things that like to sneak in and take over our lives, some times without us being fully aware it’s even happening.

The days, months, and years just seem to fly by in a blink the older we get, don’t they?  Most days I am completely overwhelmed by normal life obstacles without a second thought as to what is chasing me around and trying to corner me.  It’s like driving the same roads daily and when I reach my destination, the day is over and I don’t even know how I got there or what happened.  I don’t want what the world deems as normal weaseling in behind the steering wheel and taking over my life.

But there’s no denying it happens….it happens to all of us.

A few weeks ago my daughter needed a copy of her diploma.  It would make sense that I would keep it in our safe but as I assumed it wasn’t due to my organized, helter-skelter, non existent system of keeping track of things around the house.

I found it in the middle drawer of my desk…….I also found all of this and was stunned and mortified.

I cried when I sat down and opened every single one of these cards and read them.  At some point over the last year I had taken the time to purchase all of them and TWO boxes filled with many more because of a special occasion, or some inkling in the back of my mind that made me think of someone in my life.  Birthdays, new babies, graduations, Valentine’s Day, condolences, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, thank-you’s, just because cards, and my own son’s 18th Birthday card is in this mix.

How somber and pathetic!

How did I make the effort to drive some where and obtain all of them and yet never made the effort to send them out?  What weaseled into my life to never complete the opportunity that was given to me of telling someone how special, loved, and important they are to me?  In this day and age, a tiny gesture of love can be THE one single factor that tips the scales for someone else.  In the self-centered, shallow society we live in it’s all about ourselves and personal happiness isn’t it?  Most days we are so absorbed with the daily grind we forget it’s really supposed to be about love, sacrifice, serving, giving and forgiving.

What things weasel their way into your own life?

Gossip, drama, getting the upper hand, vulgarity, greed, power, lies, lust, laziness, procrastination, or complacency?

Is it social media, television shows, over-eating, or exhaustion from running yourself ragged?

Is it anxiety and fear?

Is it people?

The list could go on forever and I am guilty of most of these myself!

In the world of Babylon there is always a constant struggle with drama, gossip, greed, people and power.  It leaves me exhausted and depleted by the time I get home so in turn I pour myself into eating junk food and watching TV as if that is a better alternative or solution.  My expanding waistline has been screaming for months to please make this cycle stop and be more constructive with my time.

When my husband is home at night I don’t sit and listen intently to his stories and share in the joys our heartfelt conversations should bring to our marriage.  I reach for the remote control and continually press the volume button upwards to drown out his words because I am wearied from listening to people all day.

When friends ask me for help or favors my gut instinct is always to JUST SAY NO because it costs me.  Serving others costs my time, my heart, my comfort and sometimes my money.  The willingness to give of those things and putting other’s needs and desires before my own doesn’t ever seem to be convenient.  I’ve encompassed a horrible servant’s attitude lately and for that I am ashamed.        

In the middle of the night when I am jolted awake and falling back into a peaceful slumber is not on the horizon I don’t spend my time in prayer, talking to my Father and Savior like I once did before the powers of social media were at my finger tips.  Now I automatically reach for my phone on the nightstand and waste hours on end browsing through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and numerous other apps.  And this habit is not inclusive to just the hours of darkness any more.  

 

Satan also loves to weasel into our thinking doesn’t he?  When we are spent physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually he loves to jump on the back of our necks, whispering his lies into the depths of our minds and souls causing us to feel dismal, worthless, cornered.

I believe the lie my worth is contingent based on my work.

I have a tendency to believe I have a lifetime achievement award for being a horrible mother.

I believe my past mistakes are what people are constantly judging me by.

I fall into the trap of societal perfectionism where the fears of being fundamentally flawed are transcribed into feeling undesired and unlovable.

Our world is full of sin.  It’s a thing we are all born with and unfortunately are really good at.  It is glamorized daily here on earth.  Sin is overlooked, denied, enabled, encouraged, enjoyed and excused.  Ignorance is not blissful when it comes to sin.  It is costly.  It’s the opposite of who God is and letting all of these things weasel in and have control is keeping us from being near to Him and available and open to doing His work.

It is only when we are able to stop the denying and surrender ourselves willingly that we experience the true resurrecting power from above in our daily lives.

The power to be a servant instead of self-seeking.

The power to respond in love instead of anger.

The power to keep putting one foot in front of the other when we feel it’s impossible.

The power to lend a listening ear when we would rather tune others out.

The power to offer forgiveness when we have been hurt by the ways of the world.

The power to overcome Satan’s lies and deceit.

The power to trap the weasels of chaos and destruction and let God be in control instead.

Take a moment this month, and not a brief, five second moment, to really determine what weasels you allow into your own home and life.

And get outdoors and enjoy Spring!!!