Improvement

I have a list--a long list--of home improvement ideas.  This is not to say that I don't love our house, I do, but I like to look for ways it can be better.  I suppose it is my creative vision at work.  Vision and elbow grease, however, are two very different things.  My projects are slow going: an hour here, an hour there, with a lot of dreaming, waiting and, hoping in between. 

Among other things, I am working on every warmish day out in the (future) vegetable garden to prep the ground for spring.  Lately, I have been hacking my way through roots as big as my arm and weeds and thatch more than an inch thick.  It is invigorating, exciting, and tiring at the same time.  Progress is slow, and hard to see.  I keep working, though, because I know my little bit of earth has some incredible potential.      

As I work I see a spiritual analogy.  I have a list--a long list--of personal improvement ideas.  I understand my divine nature, and my potential to be something more than I am now.  The creative vision of my better self is motivating.  It is hard work, it is slow going, and I rarely see my progress.  But, I do hope in the enabling power of Christ to magnify my efforts.  My weaknesses, my personality flaws, my daily shortcomings can be made better with righteous desire, elbow grease, and divine grace.