A few weeks ago we had our yard completely re-landscaped. Part of the job was replacing the sod in the entire backyard and down the side yard. When the crew finished, I stood in the backyard and just looked at it. Thick. Green. Perfect. I had a yard again!
Fast forward two weeks.
My wife tells me, “The grass isn’t looking too good on the side of the yard.”
So I walk over to the side of the yard and take a look. Sure enough, she’s right. It’s looking like it’s dying.
Now, I’ve been down this road before, so I thought I knew exactly what was going on. The irrigation must not be getting it enough water. I spent a Sunday afternoon checking the heads, checking the coverage, making sure every inch of that new grass was getting what it needed. I adjusted the timer and gave it more time. Problem solved.
Two weeks go by. I look at the side yard again.
The brown spots weren’t just still there. They had spread. What started as a couple of patches was now about two-thirds of my backyard.
I immediately called Steve from our landscaping company. He pulled up, got out of his truck, took about ten steps toward the sod, stopped, and said, “Oh my gosh. You’ve got sod webworms.”
I had no idea what a sod webworm was.
But sure enough, when you get down low and really look, you can see where the edges of the blades of grass have been chewed. What Steve told me was that webworms hide down in the thatch during the day. They come out at night, and they eat.
And you never see them.
Think about that for a minute. I had been out there with my sprinkler heads and my timer, fixing the wrong problem. Everything I could see told me the grass needed water, so I gave it more water. Meanwhile, every single night, something I couldn’t see was quietly eating away at it.
Ten steps. That’s all it took for someone who knew what to look for.
I went out, bought grub killer, and put it down on the yard immediately. Steve told me he doubts the grass will come back. But I’m hopeful.
Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about those webworms. Not the ones in my yard….
The ones in my life.
I just have to wonder. What are those things that are slowly eating away at the roots of my life? The things that are quietly stealing the joy out of my life?
And what am I doing about it? Am I ignoring it? Am I hoping it just goes away?
There are lots of things working below the surface of our lives. Nobody sees them. Most days we don’t even see them ourselves. But they have dramatic impacts.
The world today is built around what shows on the surface. Keep it green on top and nobody asks questions. And yet the webworms are still down there, and they still need to be dealt with.
The fact is, doing nothing is a choice too, and so is adjusting the timer and hoping for the best.
So this week, I’m asking myself a simple question, and I’ll ask you too.
What’s eating at you while you sleep? And what are you going to do about it?
Green on top doesn’t always mean everything’s healthy underneath.
