Once upon a time there was a very pretty and clever young woman called Priscilla. Priscilla was gentle, kind, had lots of brothers and sisters, and was respected throughout the city she lived in. She was the head of the girl's Bible study and lived purely dressed modestly, and never looked down on anyone. But, if Priscilla had one fault, it was very hard to see, but she had it. This fault was rooted deep down in her heart. Not many people could see it in her, but those few who cared enough to see it, were willing to guide her to conquering it.
One of these few, and precious people was her mother. She knew that in Priscilla's heart, there were seeds to plant and cultivate, and weeds to pull up as well, and it was her job to plant those seeds and pull those weeds. There was one particular weed who had grown deep roots in the warm, sunny soil of Priscilla's heart, one tiny little weed that was opt to hide itself underneath the big, beautiful flowers that everyone could see. The weed hid itself under the magnificent abilities of this young woman; her talents, her achievements, her confidence.
This weed was a powerful weed called "Discontentment." Discontentment wasn't seen much above the soil; only those with a quick eye and an open heart could see the little bit of weed that was visible. And those people often considered this weed to be merely a trifle, and never bothered to tug at it. But that one person, Priscilla's sweet, wonderful mother knew that Discontentment had deep roots in Priscilla's heart, and she knew that it was her calling from God to keep her daughter accountable, and she also knew that Discontentment knew that she was called to do it; Discontentment was determined to stay.
Priscilla's mother could see that it would take a long time of tugging and digging at this weed, and anyone who knows anything about real weeds knows that real weeds don't like to be uprooted. And anyone who knows anything about the weeds in your heart knows that spiritual weeds don't like to be uprooted just as much as the real ones.
Discontentment knew that it couldn't very well hide from mother, and Priscilla knew that, too. Any given sigh or indication of unhappiness from her was translated to mother as a warning signal "Danger Ahead" said a sigh, "I wish I were somewhere else," said the corners of her eyes. Priscilla would not be washing the dishes at the sink, no; in Priscilla's mind, Discontentment painted a picture of Priscilla washing the dishes in heated water from the brook outside of a cottage that sat in the middle of a quaint little kingdom. The cottage sat in a place where you could always see the castle, and Priscilla was meekly washing the dishes wearing a faded old brown dress and her long, beautiful hair was let loose to fly in the wind as she looked up at the castle and wished she were there. Discontentment is very crafty.
Whenever these signs appeared to mother, she would take her darling Prissy aside and lovingly chastise her daughter. "Where's your heart?" she would constantly ask, "You know that you can't hide a thing from mother, tell me how you're feeling today," "Are you still here with us?"
These little acts of loving kindness were rooted deep in Priscilla's soul and went beyond her heart and her feelings to her innermost beings and deep longings that would rattle her self-confidence or shatter her faith. The weed of Discontentment could not go there when mother pushed him aside.
And mother knew that it would take all of Priscilla's life to overcome this weed. Yet, even though Discontentment is a weed that cannot be eradicated, it is one that we must pull out every day of our lives. Discontentment will come back during the night while you're not watching just like real weeds in the garden, and yes, you must pull it out before it takes root and spreads far, creating a messy, weedy garden that no one wants to look at.
Priscilla wanted her garden to be beautiful and prosperous for her mother, for the world to see, and for God to smile upon. And she worked hard the rest of her life to keep pulling the weeds like "Discontentment," "Lust," "Deceit," and many others that would spoil her purity. Priscilla went on to be married, and confided in her husband to keep her accountable, and she would go on helping her children to pull their weeds and cultivate their lives until they went on to their children and so on. And this was because Priscilla's mother, and Priscilla's mother's mother took the time to love and care for their children for Christ's sake.
THE END
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