The cluster of bright purple flowers wrapped in brown paper and string catches my eye. Looking for a little gift for a friend I am sorry to see upon closer inspection that there are lots of dead little blossoms on this small but flourishing plant. "I can't give her that one," I say to myself. Then I hear a whisper in my mind, "Why not?" "Because it's not perfect," I reply. The voice continues:
"No one's life is perfect. At any given moment in your life some things are coming to an end while other things are just beginning to develop. You are made up of lovely open blossoms and buds closed tight that are not yet revealing what beauty they will be. Then there are the dead blooms. You are more than these bits that are fading and falling and done. When a season comes where you don't see any blossoms, you are growing still. Deep in the ground your roots are spreading and getting stronger as you struggle through your questions, doubts, fears, and challenges."
I put the pretty little plant with the dead bits in my cart and ponder the idea that my life is not perfectly beautiful all the time. Since I know how messy and messed up my life is on any given day it doesn't take me long to admit that even if I tend to pretend it doesn't make the dead blooms in my life go away.
"No one's life is perfect. At any given moment in your life some things are coming to an end while other things are just beginning to develop. You are made up of lovely open blossoms and buds closed tight that are not yet revealing what beauty they will be. Then there are the dead blooms. You are more than these bits that are fading and falling and done. When a season comes where you don't see any blossoms, you are growing still. Deep in the ground your roots are spreading and getting stronger as you struggle through your questions, doubts, fears, and challenges."
I put the pretty little plant with the dead bits in my cart and ponder the idea that my life is not perfectly beautiful all the time. Since I know how messy and messed up my life is on any given day it doesn't take me long to admit that even if I tend to pretend it doesn't make the dead blooms in my life go away.
Open up before God, keep nothing back;
he’ll do whatever needs to be done:
He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day
and stamp you with approval at high noon.
Quiet down before God, be prayerful before him.
Psalm 37: 5-7a MSG
Dear Lord, thank You for Your patient love and mercy that keeps drawing us to You and into better understanding of Your truth. Please helps us to be patient, kind and forgiving towards others and ourselves. Please help us to face our circumstances with strength and courage because we know that You are with us and for us. In Jesus name, amen.
The Power of Your Love performed by Maranatha
Written by Mary M. Wilkins
Thank you, Mary. It helps to remember that the dried-up bits can serve to remind us that what once bloomed can bloom again, if we prayerfully ask the Lord to water us with His grace and feed us with His Word!
ReplyDeleteYour words spoke to my heart as I read your thoughts . Someone I love will be blessed and encouraged by the dead parts of the beautiful plant . I will share them with her .
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