The Dandylion Club

Life is messy!  Seasons can be achingly hard.  We all go through tough times.  God never promised us an easy life; He did promise that He would walk through life with us though.  Matthew 11:28-30 reminds us, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Jesus encourages us to cast our cares onto Him.  He can handle it!  So how do we do that; take our rest in Him, take His yoke, turn our burden over to Him...

Visualizing helps me to grasp what this is saying.  Children love, love, love to pick dandelions in the summer and present them to a loved one.  It is the one 'flower' that they are allowed to randomly pick without an adult saying, "Stop! Don't pick the flowers!"  The really cool thing about dandelions is when they are filled with those fluffy parasols that you can make a wish and blow all the parachutes off and watch them float away.  Now I am well aware that blowing away the seeds is perpetuating more seedlings into your grass, but you have to admit it is a fun thing to do.  Imagine that when you pick a dandelion that each fluffy parasol represents your problems, heartaches, disappointments, or uncertainties.  That deep inhale is so important when you are troubled, our breathing tends to be more shallow.  Breath in the Holy Spirit, let it fill your body.  Think about your troubles for a brief moment and blow those parachutes right into the capable hands of Christ.  There, just like that, you can turn your cares over to Jesus.  Sort of like a tangible prayer that you can believe that things will work out.  You might have to keep picking dandelions when the cares start wearing you down again and that is alright.  Our neighbors might starting asking question, and that is alright too! 
This reminds of this 20's generation of today.  I just love them!  They all seem to embrace this, "IT WILL ALL WORK OUT!" philosophy.  My sweet niece, mother of 4 all under the age of 4, has this mantra.  Our kids youth leader, at our old church, embodies this way of living.  People are calling in sick last minute and he is left with a little staff to teach Sunday school, and he is totally calm and just turns it over to Christ with a, "It will all work out," mindset.  Me...I fret and start multitasking, and planning, and phone calling until I wear myself out!  I really believe they are onto something healthy!  Therefore, I too am practicing this philosophy.  And quite honestly, things do work out exactly like they are suppose to with or without my fretting!  What about you, do you fall somewhere in the middle or are you more like my niece, or more like me??  I have a proposal.  I would like to start a Dandelion

Dandylion Club. 

This pendant is so cute I am going to order some and tie a ribbon around it for a necklace to remind myself that I can turn to Jesus to take over my cares and worries.  How about you, will you join me?  Then we will be like the Red Hat Society but something altogether new and different.  We can start a new trend as we see each other with our necklaces and say, 'It will all work out!'  You know when you find a penny on the street and you bend down to pick it up, not because you want the penny but because it says, "In God We Trust!" 

This amulet will be a relic of trusting Christ to care for our loved ones, for our circumstances, and for us.   

Blessings,

E.W.