Pine Cones

My father is a little OCD, and (of course) by a little, I mean a lot.

He likes for his yard to be neat and orderly. Keeping it up to his strict standards is a constant battle--a battle against pine cones.

Pine cones.

Prickly. Brown. Various sizes. Make excellent bird feeders when covered in peanut butter.

A worthy foe.

Every time Dad passes our yard his eyes dart across it to make sure gravity has not pulled another evil doer onto his perfect lawn.

Usually, a pine cone will be there. Immediately, he will dart across the yard to grab the pine cone. Predictably, he takes it to the trashcan just inside of the garage to throw it away. Jokingly, I smirk and shake my head.

Dad hates pine cones. He knows there will always be pine cones to pick up. I tell him that he should get rid of the trees, but he likes the trees.

I think that we all have pine cones.

We all spend our lives constantly fixing little things when there is one over-bearing thing that (if dealt with) could stop all of the little things from existing.

We should address and deal with the real issues in our lives rather than the results of the big issues.

However, picking up pine cones is much easier than moving trees.

Sometimes with all of our problems and problems caused by those initial problems we get overwhelmed.

We feel helpless and out-numbered.

It seems like there are just too many things to deal with and nothing can help.

There is wonderful news.

Jesus has already covered all of it.

God will handle all of it if we just allow Him to.

He wants to help us.

You may feel like the entire world is against you. You may think that everyone else is doing the wrong thing so why shouldn't you? It'll be okay since all of my friends are living this way and doing these things.

Do not feel alone. Our God is greater than we can describe.

God can clean up all of your pine cones. He can take the trees out of your yard.

My sister put it best on Sunday.

"God and I are the majority."