Digging Deep

I have nutgrass in my lawn. I think the normal name for it is nutsedge, but at any name it’s a pesky weed. It’s a different color than the other grass and grows taller and faster, also. I spend more time than I’d like to admit in my grass pulling each little nutgrass plant one-by-one. I tried a spray I got from the Grass Pad, but that hasn’t done anything to kill the weed.

When I pull the weed, I get down as close to the dirt as I can and try to pull out as much of the root system as possible. It’s amazing to me to see how far the little white roots go away from the base of the plant. But even getting the roots hasn’t gotten rid of the weed.

It’s called nutgrass because it grows from a small, round nut that finds its way about an inch beneath the surface of the dirt. Until that nut is removed or killed, the nutgrass will continue to grow, and cutting, spraying, or even pulling it will only lead to more growing down the road.
When we look at our kids’ attitudes and behaviors, especially the negative ones, our normal response is to address the behavior through punishment or reward. We want to get those weedy behaviors out so our kids can be healthy, productive, wise adults!

But like nutgrass, the weedy behaviors we see on the surface are usually rooted in a deeper issue: a faulty belief about themselves, the world, or about God.

For example, anger is a secondary emotion rooted in fear, frustration, or hurt. If we address the anger without addressing the fear driving the emotion, then we are missing an opportunity to help them feel secure in our love, safe in God’s protective hand, and confident in a world that isn’t out to get them.

Our goal this school year is to address the belief system at the root of our kids’ behaviors, whether bad or good. We want them to operate with a proper understanding of who God is, of why they can be confident in their faith in Jesus, and of the dignity and fallenness of humanity.
One way to do this is to have Scripture in our back pockets to remind our kids of at every opportunity. Psalm 139 is one of our favorites.

Try this: Make it a challenge for you to restate one of the main ideas of Psalm 139 as many times as possible to your kids throughout the day without using the exact same phrasing twice. How many ways can you say “You are fearfully and wonderfully made” without being obvious and without repeating yourself?