Gardening and Evangelism

I had a conversation with someone a while back about gardening.  You know, plants and flowers and lovely yards.  (If you know me, you would have read that in a sing songy sarcastic voice.  If you didn't read it correctly the first time, I encourage you to go back and read it right.)  I hate gardening.  Don't get me wrong, I like flowers.  I like to look at them, and when it is pleasant, I like to smell them.  However...I have no desire to spend $800 down at Lowe's to trek in plants and dirt and pretty rocks and weed killer and rakes and shovels and seeds.  I have no desire to waste a perfectly perfect Saturday on my hands and knees in dirt, digging and planting and pulling weeks.  <------THAT, sounds WAY too much like work to me.  And work does NOT belong on my Saturdays.   See here for proof. 

So anyway...back to the conversation.  I was talking about how I "love" to garden and that is why our wonderfully landscaped backyard, is not so wonderfully landscaped anymore. 

Back story...We bought our house from people who LOVED to garden.  And not the way I love to garden, but the way a....well...a, uh...person who loves...to...garden...loves gar..den..ing.   Anyway...There were 2 ponds and tons of rosebushes and other random flowers and different grasses and I think some small trees, or I don't know what all.  I just know that none of it came back the way it looked when we moved in.  Which means, it was all very high maintenance.  Ew.  The ponds were taken out immediately (We had small children.  I didn't need any drowning incidents.) The grasses have been mowed over, the 75 hostas are no more, the rosebushes have been hacked at (although, there is some right outside the window that I currently see.  Haven't seen any roses in 2 years, so surprise on me) and the only real left overs are the bleeding hearts which are no maintenance and I adore. 

This person was shocked.  "You mean you just tore it all out?"  She was full on disgusted with this idea and I was like "Yup.  Sure did."  Then I was informed of all the wonderful plants that are so easy to grow and how you don't have to do anything except for plant them.  And in my head I added, "yeah and water them, and not mow over them, and make sure the animals aren't eating them and, and, and, 100 other things that I don't want to waste my Saturdays on."  So I did the polite thing.  I nodded my head and looked interested while my brain tape just kept saying "Blah Blah Blah.  Is this conversation over yet?"

Later I was replaying this in my mind and I had a thought....Do we evangelize the way people talk to me about gardening?

I mean really....When we find out someone isn't a Christian, or has a different world view than us, do we try to change them and make them "right?"  Do we look at them in disgust as if what is wrong with you? You don't know how awesome I am?  Here let me give you a list of how I can make you better.  And I say "we" because, let me be honest and frank.  I don't evangelize.  I am not against it, actually I whole heartedly believe it is something I should be doing.  I just don't.  I am afraid of doing it.  I am afraid that people will look at me the way I look at them when they are talking to me about gardening.

*Head bob*  Yeah, that sounds nice.  Wow, I didn't know that.  *Blah blah blah.  Is this conversation over yet?*

SO maybe I am just rambling, but maybe instead of trying to convert, and make others right, we should take a page from...oh I don't know...maybe JESUS and just love people.  Just love people.   Wow.  That doesn't sound much easier....

I think this though has evolved into a different blog.  Once which I will save for another day....