Green Grass

Our lawn always used to look like the one on the left, that is, if you add prickly weeds and dandelions.  Our neighbor always had a perfectly manicured green lawn. We always felt like such bad neighbors, but the time and attention that the neighbor paid to his lawn kept it gorgeous and free of weeds even though it was next to our lawn.  

Fortunately we live in Wisconsin, so we don’t have to worry about watering, but we haven’t been diligent at all about fertilizer and weed control.  This year, in exasperation, my husband decided to pay for basic services from a lawn care company (I was always too cheap noting that we could do it ourselves, even though we didn’t).  I just went out to take a picture, and wouldn’t you know it? The brown/green line that used to divide our lawns is gone (and so are the prickly weeds)! I guess the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.  In fact, “The grass is greener where you water it.”

How do we keep our relationships green and thriving? I’d like to suggest three key ways to have greener relationships.

1st: Water 

Oftentimes Christ is referred to as living water.  As we invite Christ into our marriages, families, and other relationships, it sanctifies those relationships.  President Hunter said,  “whatever Jesus lays his hands upon lives. If Jesus lays his hands upon a marriage, it lives. If he is allowed to lay his hands on the family, it lives.”

2nd: Fertilizer

Our lawn received plenty of water, but it didn’t get the nutrients it needed.  We can feed our relationships as we invest time in them.

President Uchtdorf said, “We build deep and loving family relationships by doing simple things together, like family dinner and family home evening and by just having fun together. In family relationships love is really spelled t-i-m-e, time.”

I love this story from President Oaks:

A friend took his young family on a series of summer vacation trips, including visits to memorable historic sites. At the end of the summer he asked his teenage son which of these good summer activities he enjoyed most. The father learned from the reply, and so did those he told of it. “The thing I liked best this summer,” the boy replied, “was the night you and I laid on the lawn and looked at the stars and talked.”

3rd: Weed

We want to keep the pesty weeds out of our relationships.  Minor annoyances and irritations creep up from time to time, that’s natural, but we shouldn’t dwell on them.  I had a bishop once tell us that bad thoughts are like birds landing on our heads. If a bird lands on our head, we shoo it off before it leaves an unwanted present for us.  While we might need to address more serious issues, most irritations are simply like grapefruits in this story: The Grapefruit Syndrome.