Ivy

So...... Sorry my blog has kind of been on hiatus lately. I really need to be better about posting. No promises though.
For once, however, I have a partial excuse. I was sick for a good portion of last week, and therefore I was miserable and not much blog-worthy stuff happened.
However, on blog-worthy tidbit did happen last week. I had a revelation about ivy.
Yes, you read it right- ivy - the green, leafy vine that adorns old buildings, especially old colleges such as Harvard, or other "Ivy League" schools.... Okay, bad joke, I know. Deal with it. =]

So, moving on.
I was sweeping the front patio one afternoon, and I stopped to cleat away some ivy that was growing onto the patio, and something made me stop and examine it. It was then that I wondered how ivy grew along the walls. When I examined it closer, I realized that at regular increments along each vine, there were tiny little tendrils that would find cracks and crevices, or even rough patches along the wall, to cling to. These tendrils, once they found purchase, would not only cling, however. They would slowly, over years even, work their way deeper into the fabric of the wall. If not kept in check, ivy has even been known to crumble entire building beyond repair. Though it is simply a plant, and not obviously aggressive to the human eye, it has the power to crumble entire buildings with its tendrils if it is ignored.
This idea brought a very strong spiritual correlation to my mind.
The ivy plant is much like the Enemy. He is always searching for a new foothold in our lives. It doesn't even have to be a large or obvious one either - he can use the smallest, most insignificant shortcomings in our lives to get a tendril in. And just like the ivy plant, if those tendrils are left unattended, they will widen the cracks, and begin to crumble our spiritual walls. Oh, and the whole time it looks good. Personally, I think a brick wall laced with ivy is a beautiful sight, but the ivy damages the structural integrity of the wall, and over time it becomes unstable. The same can happen with our lives. The crack can begin as a spoken word that was taken unkindly - if the person who was offended dwells upon the unkind word, it becomes a tiny crack in which the Enemy can get a foothold. The dwelling can turn into an attitude of self pity or insecurity. The attitude can turn into a mentality, and ultimately the mentality becomes a part of the persons identity, therefore giving them an identity of worthlessness and self pity.
Much of what we have been doing over this DTS has to do with "trimming back the ivy" in our lives, and having God help us to repair the cracks in our walls, and the damage done through them. I am excited to realize how much progress I have made already, and I am wondering what God will do next in my life. =]
Well, it's late now, and I am going to attempt to get up early tomorrow to join the girls for an early morning workout, so goodnight!