Maintenance is a pain.  You know, the things you have to do over and over, just to keep stuff functional.

A few days ago I trudged up the old highway that runs through our property; a roadbed that actually had a number up until, I guess, the 1930’s when newer roads were cut.  It runs down the mountainside next to us and across Lee Creek, winding southward till it disappears into a tangle of trees, brush, and fence-lines.  The part that crosses our land is very solid and usable . . . . . that is, if I keep it cleared.

I discovered two large trees had fallen across the roadway, taking with them some smaller ones that made a pretty good mess.  And a good number of cedars and other brush had taken root in the lane, making it begin to look overgrown and potentially impassible.  Well, that won’t do.  When Jeanie and I bought the land back in 1979 I vowed to keep the roadway clear as our little contribution to the history of the area.  Some of the old-timers had told us stories of wagons making their way down the hillside, and of homesteads, now decades gone, along the road toward the valley.  We’ve always felt it was important to preserve that fragment of history for our kids and grand-kids, or whoever might occupy the land over time.

So, out came the chainsaw, the pruners, and the line-trimmer!  It took a couple of hours and a pretty good sweat, but the roadway is generally back in shape.  I also salvaged a huge grapevine that fell with one of the trees.  I dragged it down the cleared roadway to the house, and I’ve commissioned Jeanie to come up with a use for it!  She’s a master at making decorations out of weeds and discarded stuff.

Maintaining one’s soul is also quite a challenge sometimes.  Our minds and hearts easily become overgrown with attitudes and anxieties that have to be cleared away, and it isn’t always easy to do.  “Not again!”  Things creep in uninvited to distract us, or burden us, and we have to deliberately stop and deal with them.  We may need to repent if a root of wickedness, or lust, or anger has sprung up in our hearts.  Get it to God, no matter how humiliating that might feel, and keep it before Him, even if you can’t do anything about it right now.  Just get it ‘in the light!’  Clearing away the dark and damaging things that easily attach to us is, during some seasons, almost full-time work!  But it’s better to deal with it when we discover it, lest it become something we have to get help with later on.  My chainsaw and tools were a bit of labor, but I won’t have to hire a bulldozer a decade from now.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)  It’s a verse most believers are familiar with.  For me, it’s a daily life-line to ‘keep the roadway clear.’  I don’t know about you, but there is always clutter to deal with in this old soul, so as I was working on the old highway, it was a gentle and familiar reminder that I thought I’d pass on to you!  Your soul is a valued treasure to the Lord.  Take care of it.  It’s important for you, and probably for a whole lot of other folks!  Be blessed today, and strengthened for your journey.  Roger