Hoe, Hoe, Hoe.

This is not Santa talk. This is straight talk - a true story from this old farm boy (always outstanding in my field) with hoe in hand.

I received an excited call from John, a fellow undergraduate student, who was a sociology/psychology major at California State College in Chico California. I often referred to him as my "psychoceramic" friend interpreted to be a "crack pot".

John had just married and moved into a little house on the edge of town where the soil was Vina Clay loam, some of the most fertile in the world. He and his new bride had never planted a garden before that year. The phone rang with an invitation for my wife and I too come see this new garden creation.

The appearance was beautiful but the essence was that there would never have been one carrot to harvest because there were far too many seedlings packed into the small place so that not one carrot would have room to develop its root system.

Appearance is often not essence.

A new creation it was! As an old Aggie I could not turn my buddy down as he was eager to have my approval. When we arrived a massive patch of green appeared more like a beautiful lawn than a garden. Like a rabbit and a health food fanatic, John loved fresh carrots so he could hardly wait to show off that part of his garden. He ushered me immediately to his patch of carrots. I could not hold back a burst of laughter as I approached his "masterpiece".

Without comment I asked for his hoe. Surprised, he handed me the hoe and I proceeded to hoe out about three quarters of the carrots leaving only thinned rows. He was ready to commit me to the nearest mental institution probably with pleasure. FORGE

I explained to John that the definition of a weed is any plant, be it a carrot, tomato, potato, that is out of place. In this case it was even more subtle as carrots were the weeds in the carrot patch. The planting density had prevented each carrot from growing to useful maturity and to fulfilling the purpose for which they had been planted. The harvest would be what he had sown---too many carrots tops and no useful product.

Keep the hoe in hand if you want real "carrots" and weed out those extra useless "carrot tops". "Carrot vision" gives us the focus to see the important over the good, the legitimate and the urgent. King David, heralded as one of the greatest Kings of all time, said, "I'm asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I'll contemplate his beauty; I'll study at his feet." Psalms 27:4 The Message.

It is hard to daily take the hoe in hand to weed out especially the good and legitimate things in our lives so we can reap the important fruit that remains-- fruit that can give life and health to our being and doing. It is the good and legitimate things along with the bad psedo-substitutes that often rob us, God and others of the best for us. It is all about weeding, feeding and watering to grow what God intended. What is it today that needs the hoe in your life?We function best when we are aligned with our designed purpose. We then bloom where we are planted and bear "fruit " that blesses the Lord, us and others.

To grow in wisdom is to "hoe" intentionally and in the process become more fruitful and fulfilled. Never, never, never let the urgent, the expedient or attractive appearing things rob God, you and others of the important. Keep your hoe in hand and Hoe, Hoe, Hoe.