Look Beyond the Weeds

So,  it has been a while.  Turns out life never slows down, even though you think it will sometime in the near future.

While I've been away, I feel like I have been busy growing up.  I graduated from the fabulous BYU in December and started a grown-up job in January.  (Memorial Day tomorrow is going to be my first day off. SO. EXCITED.  It's all about life's simple pleasures.)

My new job allows me to work a lot with my grandma.  (We do public relations for some of my family's companies, and my grandma is included in there.) For those of you who don't know grandma Bev, let me tell you: she is a rockstar.  She's an 87-year-old champion of educational reform who still works about 40 hours a week, takes care of 8 children, 47 grandchildren, and 45 + (and always growing) great-grandchildren.  You can read about her and her Art Works for Kids program here.

Publicly, she's a sweet old lady trying to keep the arts alive in Utah schools.  But she's also one of the most doggedly-positive, loving, compassionate people I have ever met.  If you ever have a chance to shake her hand, for just one moment she will make you feel like you are the best thing that has ever happened to this world.  Her smile is huge and contagious and her heart is even bigger (as cheesy as that might sound).  She sees the best in people and is always willing to offer more of her time, energy and resources than was ever expected.  That's my grandma.  I hope I've painted a good picture for you.

As I was working with her on her book last summer--oh, yeah, she also wants to write her biography, and her brother's biography, and travel to Jerusalem one more time, and so on--she told me a story that I think is quite poetic.  One day many years ago, my grandma was outside her home in the foothills of Utah pulling weeds with her husband.  It was a hot day, and it seemed like the weeds were everywhere to be seen.  She grew tired and frustrated, and maybe even a little helpless looking at how much work they had ahead of them in the heat.  After a while she started to complain to my grandpa about how much weeding they would have to do.  My grandpa looked at her and said, "Beverley, look beyond the weeds.  Look at the birds nesting in the trees, look at the beautiful view we have of the valley, see how pretty the world is in the spring.  Look beyond the weeds!"

I was talking to my mom this morning and she brought this story up again.  Sometimes we have to look beyond the weeds.  It's easy to get caught up in the details, but sometimes we need to look past the little things that easily discourage us and see the bigger picture.  Next time you get frustrated about all the work ahead, try to see the bigger picture.  The weed-pulling is worth it in the end.