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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Not everything that feels like a nuisance is

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Speaker 1: a problem. Not every interruption is an obstacle. Sometimes the

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Speaker 1: very thing we rush to remove is a quiet imitation

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Speaker 1: meant to grow us. Hi friends, I'm Jem Faddling and

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Speaker 1: this is the Unhurried Living Podcast where we inspire you

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Speaker 1: to rest deeper, live fuller, and lead better. Today, I

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Speaker 1: want to share a memory from my own childhood that

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Speaker 1: has been quietly shaping my spiritual life for decades. It's

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Speaker 1: about the weeds in the garden that is my life

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Speaker 1: and the way I decide what counts as beautiful and

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Speaker 1: what I might be dismissing too quickly. After a word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsor, will dive into our conversation for today.

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Speaker 1: If you've ever felt frustrated by interruptions, thwarted by detours,

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Speaker 1: or quick to label something in your life, life as

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Speaker 1: in the way this reflection may offer a gentler lens.

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Speaker 1: Let me take you back. Growing up on my family's

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Speaker 1: small six acre farm in Washington was wonderful. I enjoyed

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Speaker 1: many hours and days of leisure. This was back in

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Speaker 1: the days before the information age. We had one phone

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Speaker 1: connected to a wall, five channels on the TV, and

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Speaker 1: I was the remote control. I had a pogo stick,

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Speaker 1: a skateboard, a bike, and a horse. What else could

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Speaker 1: a person need? And one of my favorite memories is

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Speaker 1: rolling down a small hill in our front yard. It

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Speaker 1: was probably only about a four foot incline, but for

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Speaker 1: a young child like me, it was just delightful. I

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Speaker 1: spent hours lying in the grass, watching the butterflies and

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Speaker 1: the bees, looking up at tall pine branches hanging overhead,

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Speaker 1: or just simply watching the sky. I remember being enamored

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Speaker 1: by the dandelions and the purple clover scattered on our grasses.

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Speaker 1: I experienced the childlike thrill of blowing on a fluffy

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Speaker 1: white dandelion and watching the seeds float off like tiny

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Speaker 1: parachutes into the air. The delight of enjoying the sweetness

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Speaker 1: of a tiny purple blossom. Now remember, both of these

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Speaker 1: flowers were weeds, but I didn't know that, and I

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Speaker 1: didn't care. I thought they were beautiful. There was no

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Speaker 1: hierarchy in my young mind, no ranking system, just wonder.

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Speaker 1: As this memory floated through my mind, a new thought emerged.

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Speaker 1: What makes a dandelion any less desirable than a tulip?

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Speaker 1: Who decides what qualifies as a flower and what constitutes

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Speaker 1: a weed. I'm sure the gardeners among you know the

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Speaker 1: difference and could explain it to me, but bear with me.

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Speaker 1: I am a non gardener semi philosopher. So let's talk

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Speaker 1: about this for just a moment, Like the dandelion seeds

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Speaker 1: in the wind, Let's float the question in reference to

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Speaker 1: the guard of our souls, how do we decide what

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Speaker 1: is a weed and what is a flower in our

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Speaker 1: own lives? Well, it's all about perspective, the choices we make,

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Speaker 1: and the narratives we assign to what shows up. Every

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Speaker 1: flower or weed is beautiful in its own way. And

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Speaker 1: if one kind of flower happens to pop up where

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Speaker 1: we didn't planet, is it possible that it's a gift

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Speaker 1: instead of a nuisance. For example, interruptions might be considered

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Speaker 1: the weeds of our lives. They disrupt our plans, they

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Speaker 1: hijack our productivity, or they push against our carefully constructive schedules.

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Speaker 1: But Henry Nowen, in his book Reaching Out, says this

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Speaker 1: about interruptions. What if our interruptions are in fact our opportunities.

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Speaker 1: If there are challenges to an inner response by which

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Speaker 1: growth takes place and through which we come to the

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Speaker 1: fullness of being now, and goes so far as to

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Speaker 1: suggest that interruptions what we would quickly label as weeds,

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Speaker 1: might actually lead us to fullness of being. This is

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Speaker 1: a radical reframing because most of us are very quick

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Speaker 1: to judge what crosses our path. I like to label,

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Speaker 1: I like to categorize, I assess, and I decide almost

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Speaker 1: instantly whether something belongs in my garden or not, and

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Speaker 1: if it doesn't, I pull it. But what if I'm

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Speaker 1: judging too quickly? What if the thing that feels like

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Speaker 1: a detour is the very path to deeper formation. It's easier,

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Speaker 1: of course, to admire a rose in full bloom than

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Speaker 1: a small yellow flower we trample underfoot. There are no

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Speaker 1: dandelion gardens to rival the likes of the Huntington Library

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Speaker 1: rose garden in spring. But what about the little way

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Speaker 1: of love? What about the quiet, hidden growth that happens

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Speaker 1: beneath the surface, What about the small things that form us?

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Speaker 1: Perhaps the invitation is to slow down our naming. Not

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Speaker 1: every hard conversation is a weed, nor every delay a waste.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes they invitations that are shaping our inner garden more

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Speaker 1: than we realize. The child version of me did not

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Speaker 1: see weeds. I saw color, movement, sweetness, and beauty. I

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Speaker 1: didn't stand over the clover evaluating it's worth I just

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Speaker 1: delighted in it. And I wonder how much of our

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Speaker 1: spiritual formation is really about recovering that kind of sight.

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Speaker 1: A site that doesn't rush to judge, a heart that

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Speaker 1: doesn't quickly dismiss, a soul that can hold tension long

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Speaker 1: enough to see what might be growing well as is typical.

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Speaker 1: I'd love to give you three small, simple ways to

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Speaker 1: practice this reframing in your own life. Let's get practical,

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Speaker 1: So for yourself, go ahead and just take some time

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Speaker 1: to identify one so called weed. Just name one current

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Speaker 1: situation that feels inconvenient or frustrating or unwanted, and then

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Speaker 1: write it down and ask yourself what might this be

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Speaker 1: forming in me? Maybe patience, compassion, flexibility, and maybe even

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Speaker 1: a little more dependence on God. You don't have to

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Speaker 1: force anything, but try looking for a hidden growth within

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Speaker 1: your circumstance. Number two, slow down on your labeling for

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Speaker 1: one day or even one week. Just practice delaying your

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Speaker 1: judgment when something unexpected happens, resist immediately calling it bad

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Speaker 1: or wrong. Just say this is happening. That small shift

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Speaker 1: creates a little space, and space is where perspective can grow.

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Speaker 1: Number three, Invite God into your garden. He's there with

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Speaker 1: you anyway, but acknowledge that ask God to show you

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Speaker 1: how he sees the situation not as the source of

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Speaker 1: your difficulty, but as the one present with you in it.

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Speaker 1: Perspective changes in relationship when we sense we are not alone.

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Speaker 1: The weeds don't feel so threatening. While as a little

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Speaker 1: girl on the six acre farm, I didn't know I

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Speaker 1: was practicing spiritual formation while blowing dandelions into the wind,

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Speaker 1: and I was simply delighting in what was there. Maybe

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Speaker 1: maturity in the spiritual life is not about becoming more

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Speaker 1: critical gardeners. Maybe it's about becoming more discerning, more open

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Speaker 1: to waiting, and to just receiving life as a gift.

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Speaker 1: So as you move into your week, consider the garden

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Speaker 1: of your own soul. Somewhere in the midst of what

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Speaker 1: you are attempted to pull up, there may be something

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Speaker 1: quietly beautiful, something small and unexpected, and maybe even something

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Speaker 1: forming you into fullness. Blessings to you as you make

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Speaker 1: your way. Thank you for joining me on the Unhead

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Speaker 1: Living podcast. You can download free resources, and learn more

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Speaker 1: about us at Unhurried Living dot com. And please subscribe

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Speaker 1: and share this podcast with your friends and colleagues. We'd

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Speaker 1: also like to thank our partner, Life Audio. Check out

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Speaker 1: their other faith centered podcasts at lifeaudio dot com. Blessings

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Speaker 1: to you as you make your way