BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED

I wrote this blog on 4/2/19
Today (4/15/19) in Hobby Lobby I found a wall hanging (see picture to left).
As I drove out of my garage, the beautiful pink flowers on our cherry tree in the front yard caught my eye. I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself. I wanted to immediately take a picture to capture the beautiful flowers and the heartiness of the tree, but I was in a hurry and traveled on, out the driveway and down the road towards the ladies’ Tuesday morning prayer meeting.
As I drove, God showed me the amazing comparison between Christians and that cherry tree.
My husband, Mike, and I planted that tree as a small seedling last spring. It had been a year of waiting and watching what looked like only a stick. I wondered if there was life left in it.
So many elements could steal the life of that seedling. There’s always the many deer that could eat the leaves and flowers. The winter can play havoc on new plants and kill them. Bugs can eat the leaves and destroy it. You wonder if it was placed in the right spot. Is it getting too much sun, not enough sun and what about all that rain we received last year? Did it receive too much water or not enough?
So, when your hard work and efforts are rewarded with beautiful flowers (and pink and purple are my favorites) it’s easy to get excited. Your baby has survived!
It feels as if you’re child has accomplished a great feat and you swell up with pride, knowing that if it made it through its first winter, you will probably enjoy beautiful pink flowers for many years to come! All the gardeners out there know exactly what I mean.
God showed me how we’re the same. A seed is planted in our hearts when we accept Jesus as our savior. Will that seed survive the early months and years of life? What about when life turns cold and difficult? Will we continue to survive and eventually thrive?
There are many things in this world that will try to come against a believer and try to snuff out their purpose. There are the cares of life, tragedy, busyness, ignoring God and His calling. Not spending time with Him or in the word, on a daily basis. All these things can mean death to our spirit man (woman) but when we overcome the world and all these distractions, we bloom and become beautiful for all to see. We can become what God saw in us all along.
I believe God feels the same excitement when he sees us flourishing and fulfilling His call on our lives. His heart must overflow with joy and He wants others to know what He is doing through us. “Look what my child has done today.” “It’s my pleasure to boast on this beautiful creation, as they are about my business and my plans for their life.”
I can only image how proud and happy we make our Lord when we become the beautiful creation, He called us to be and knew we could be. We are at our best and most beautiful when we BLOOM WHERE WE’RE PLANTED!

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