11/28/2025
Several years ago, we (Elyssa 😘) planted a little mint. I love mint—I cook with it, add it to drinks, and enjoy having it right outside our door. But mint definitely has a survivor’s mentality. It will do whatever it takes to keep growing!
We started with just a couple of sprigs in a flower pot, then set the pot into our flower bed so it would blend in with the rest of the plants. It didn’t take long before I noticed mint sprouting outside the pot. Before we knew it, it was popping up all throughout the flower bed. By the next spring, it had even spread into the yard.
I try to protect the “good” mint—the healthy, pretty growth that adds flavor and beauty. But some mint, while it may look fine, grows in the wrong places and can quickly take over, damaging other plants. That mint needs to be pulled. Sometimes it comes out easily, roots and all. Other times the leaves and stem break off, leaving the root behind. If I don’t dig down and remove that root, the mint will return even stronger—sending rhizomes out and causing trouble in other parts of the yard.
Our thoughts are a lot like mint. It’s a blessing to be able to think, remember, and reason—but our thoughts can also run wild if we don’t tend them. Healthy, true thoughts need to be nurtured and protected. Other thoughts may seem harmless at first, but if left alone, they can wreak havoc on the healthy ones. Some thoughts are easy to uproot. Others require us to dig deeper—to identify where they came from and address them at the root.
Sometimes we can tend to our thoughts on our own. Other times, we need the support of someone who can help us recognize what’s causing harm and help us work through it.
It takes courage, strength, and persistence to tend to our thoughts. But when we do, they lead us toward a more peaceful life.
