Getting the Pride Knocked Out of You

Do you ever get prideful?? Or do you get to proud of yourself??

I did. And then I literally had it knocked out of me.

Background: We had our yard landscaped when i was pregnant with Hammer. I couldnt' physically help with the landscaping. We had no idea what to plant, where to sit it out, or what would look good. Will and I are not green thumbs. We decided to hire someone to landscape the yard for us. And they did a great job. Will and I never broke a sweat, hauled off weeds, tilled up dirt. We did NOTHING but say "yeah, that looks good" and then write a check. And then  - Ta-da!! We have a pretty yard.

Then summertime arrived. Mississippi heat and lack of rain did some of our plants in. Hammer was an infant during that summer. For various reasons, I couldn't get hot. As a result, I didn't water the new plants like I should have. And we had several to die. And I mean DIE. The plants looked like twigs planted in the ground. It looked terrible.

Over the last year, we have replaced the dead bushes. And I've been able to water them some. Now that I'm pregnant again, I can't get hot and I have to keep my heart rate down. Watering in the afternoons is a chore. To prevent me from sweating down outside, being carried away with mosquitos, and spending over an hour watering our plants with a 14 month old on my hip, I bought soaker hoses.

I know - genius!

Why in the world didn't we think about doing this before. Like DUH.

So now I go outside, turn the faucets on, swat a mosquito, and I'm back inside. Before I go to bed, I turn it back off. Easy breezy.

The other night as I walked around to the 4th faucet (yes - we have 4 soaker hoses) to turn them off, I was thinking to myself: "Will would be so proud of me. I didn't kill the plants. I am the best wife ever. I even hung up a load of clothes and cleaned the kitchen while the soakers where running. He's so blessed. Blah blah blah."

Then BAM.

I slipped on some mud and straight up busted my tail. I was laid out in my backyard muddy as all get out. In fact, I got so nasty, my underwear was muddy.

Don't ya love God's sense of humor???

I was getting on my high horse. And He slapped me down on the ground with one step.

I was getting prideful. I was patting myself on the back for something I should be doing anyway. I should clean the kitchen every night anyway. I should hang up a load of clothes every night anyway. Will isn't blessed. I AM!

Am I the only woman in the world who waters the plants?? Um - no! (But I may be the only one to use a soaker hose instead of actually holding the hose above the plant. Ha!)

What made me think I was so special?? I'd like to think the devil made me think that stuff. But let's be honest. I was getting prideful. And the good Lord literally threw me in the mud.

"I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze." Leviticus 26:19

The ground wasn't exactly "bronze", but it was a reddish/brown Mississippi clay....