Bloom Where You're Planted
Coming back from a vacation, no matter how short, often leaves me feeling deflated. I suppose it could be from all the excitement and hype in the prep, then being super high on fun and family, only to return to the everyday sometimes mundane life. Especially for me, who rarely gets to see or spend time with family…that time is very precious to me.
Attended a fabulous wedding and had loads of fun with family, an experience in total contrast to my usual life. Since my return and feeling somewhat “woe is me” the Lord had to remind me of some things. He reminded me of a person that was never able to have children of her own and then her husband passed away at a young age. This woman’s life I am sure did not turn out the way she had planned. Then He reminded me of someone who was left to raise and care for her children alone…surely this is not how she planned her life.
And there I sat, lovingly chastised by my Father for pining over my life that He has so graciously given to me, because I feel that my life has not turned out as I had planned. I wanted to be the doting wife, mother and grandmother, busy baking and cooking fabulous meals for my family on the weekends. I could see us having big family gatherings for Christmas and Easter with so much love it made the atmosphere tingle. I pictured us all going on picnics together, complete with a wicker basket, gingham napkins, fried chicken and the works. I could see my husband and I watching our grandchildren grow up together, giving them sage advice and slipping them money to get a treat. I could see us watching the sunset and laughing about silly stuff…just because we were all together.
I have always been a dreamer. I can remember my math teacher in high school frequently catching me staring out the window daydreaming, while she called on me to answer a question. Though it amused and made my class mates laugh, I was in my own little world, where I saw my life in sparkles and pastel colors. And then you grow up…
Growing up is not meant to be a negative experience; it is the plan of God that we mature and become wiser. It is when we try to hold on to some of those dreams that we can make our current lives miserable. God, I believe wants us to be content in the state He allows us to be in. As apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:13 after saying “I’ve learned to be content with having a lot and with having little…”I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength”. He wants us to “Bloom where we are planted”.
In a conversation with my sister, we talked about a yellow rose bush that she has planted by her storage shed in her back yard. She told me how having gotten the rose when her youngest son graduated from Medical school several years back and she had tried planting the bush in several places on her property without success. Her last resort was to plant the rose bush in a pot that was out by her storage shed. A pot that had other plants in it along with a few weeds; but it is there, not in a place of prominence or even showcased that the Rose bush has flourished and blooms beautifully. At that point she and I began to see the correlation the life of that little rosebush has with ours. To make it more personal, with my life not turning out like I had planned, I’ve felt I’ve been moved all around, surely out of my comfort zone; dreams have failed, lots of tears in the process and yes…in my little narrow, pink and sparkly, make believe world, to me people have failed. But my Father reminds me that my eyes should only be on HIM, because HE NEVER FAILS. And He reminds me to BLOOM WHERE I’M PLANTED. The Real World can be rough, hurtful and very disappointing, but Jesus says in the Bible to be of “Good Cheer for He has overcome this world.” And I can too as I keep my eyes on Him.
Thanks little yellow Rose bush for that huge lesson…in spite of your trials, you’re still fulfilling your purpose and looking beautiful while you’re doing it! I want to be just like you when I grow up!
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