July 17, 2014

bloom

Five Minute Friday: Bloom

It seems so perfect, so planned by a great Orchestrater. I spent time with the flowers today. Smelled them. Arranged some in a vase to replace the sagging, wilting crew dropping pollen and petals on the table. A fresh bouquet so that mom will feel a little loved when she gets home. To remind me to go outside and let the flowers bump my shins and thighs and nose when I get too close.

To remind me to live. To remind me that this state of limbo, between college and (hopefully) finding a job is not a conveyor belt taking me to the next place. No, wherever we are put can either be a garden or a pit of dirt.

I've been digging, taking off the sod, preparing the ground for a patio. It really doesn't look nice, that rectangle of dirt littered with hacked grass and an annoying abundance of small rocks. That stretch of dirt will be something else soon, but right now it is ugly and barren.

I want to be a garden. "Bloom where you are planted," people always say. Yeah, that's something people get right, at least in the head. Even if you are in a tiny, plastic pot instead of a gorgeously landscaped raised bed with stepping stones and sun--bloom.

I am learning to make each day count in small ways--a kind note, an encouraging text, praying for and thinking about friends in hard places and good, showing kindness instead of retaliation, patience instead of frustration. It is hard work--gardens usually are. But He has the greenest thumb to ever exist.

9 comments:

  1. Amen! I'm so glad God has a green thumb--but being a controller type, it's so hard for me to accept sometimes that I'm the seed, not the gardener! May God be with you during your waiting time. He knows when and where he wants you to bloom :).

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    1. I feel you--it is hard to let Him be the gardener.
      I thank you for your encouraging words. :)

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  2. The barren times are of preparation... yes. So hard, but so good.

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  3. I think that if you cannot bloom where you are planted, you won't fully bloom when planted where you want to be - it's a hard lesson I am finally learning! I love that you picked flowers for your mom! It looks like you are blooming beautifully!

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    1. aww, thanks! And yes, you are so right--how can e expect to bloom anywhere if we cannot do it here? Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. Beautiful story, analogy and aspiration. I wish I had learned these lessons as early as you are take them with you into whatever job you get - dream, or making do. You will be a shining example for others. Simply lovely!

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    1. thank you, thank you. the encouragement means much!

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