When I was invited to a sister’s house the other day,

I asked if I could bring something to go with iftar, the meal for breaking the daily fast during Ramadan. When she replied “maybe something sweet”, I decided to use a recipe my granddaughter tried a few weeks ago.  She made these little shortbread kind of cookies with a spot of jam in the middle of each one.  I tripled the recipe so we could have some here at the house and am I ever glad that I did!

These cookies are the bomb!

You know the kind that just kind of melt in your mouth and you can’t just eat one?  The sister I visited and her daughters are still raving about them. And the grand-kids, too! This will be one that goes down in the books along with my recipes for chocolate chip w/walnuts, Mexican wedding cakes, lemon melt-aways, and sugar cookies I make every  year!

The garden has been growing in leaps and bounds. What has been most interesting  and thought-provoking though is WEEDING the garden. I have been pulling some little weeds that have been sprouting up around the corn and okra, but they have come back with a vengeance. So this morning, I got my chair and a gardening hand tool and spent almost 2 hours thoroughly weeding these 2 small beds of vegetables.

What I realized was this.

A garden is much like our lives. As we begin to grow, there are many things that can happen external to us to stunt and even destroy our growth.  I noticed that the weeds start off very small and some even begin to take on attractive forms to make you question if they really are weeds.  They look so plush and green and if left unchecked, grow as healthy  and strong as the plant! But their roots are running deep and seek to choke out the roots of the plants that are growing. To just pinch their leaves off is to no avail; out of sight, the roots continue to dig deeper until when they bloom again, they are well below the surface!

Green Beans

I found myself out there talking to the weeds! As I took the hand tool and turned the soil, I  could actually see how deep those roots had traveled.  Some of them were up to 2 inches long, needling their way toward the roots of the corn, okra, and green beans!

SubhanAllah (Glory to God). This is how the evil of this world works upon our bodies, minds, and souls. We believe that all that looks good is good for us. We allow people, places, and things to get us all tangled up into a web of “weeds” that before we know it, our light has been slowly choked out! The garden is a stark reminder to me that the work is never done. Even after the 2 hours spent out there today, I must be vigilant and consistent in keeping the garden not only nourished with water, but as weed free as possible.

NEVER MISS A POST: SIGN UP NOW

Show Muriel some love by signing up for the Mailing List.

SIGN UP

It has been interesting to see what would survive and what didn’t make it in the garden. Much like life, not all will last. some will fall prey to the weeds, and some will be destroyed in the process of killing the weeds. Or they’ll be in the wrong place at the wrong time. For right now, I will continue to try and get to the root of the problem, getting the weeds out by any means necessary in order to allow the plants to grow strong til the end.

The spinach and lettuce did not survive; maybe this is not the best environment suited for them to grow.  And so it is with life. If you find yourself surrounded by a lot of negativity (weeds), trying to squeeze the life out of you, get up and remove the weeds or transplant yourself to an environment in which you can thrive.

Just don’t sit still and be devoured!