I've been gone too long!

Hello my friends! I can't believe how long I have been gone. The weeks have passed by so quickly and before I realized it, months have gone by since my last post. I hope you all are well. 


I wanted to share something that I wrote this week for my office blog. Each week we will be having 2 guest bloggers from the office share about what is going on in their life based on one of our values (Faith, Growth, Community, and Fruitfulness) I kicked it off on Growth this week. Hope you enjoy and I promise this is the first of many posts to come! :)


peace, love, and cute shoes~
chrissy



I don't know about you all, but I LOVE flowers. I love having them around me, I love taking pictures of them, I'm even wearing a floral shirt today. I feel like flowers are God's gift to me that reminds me how He loves to see me smile. Because of this love for flowers, every year I attempt to grow some at my house. Who doesn't love a house surrounded by flowers? I imagine myself tending to them and nurturing them and just basking in their beauty on lovely summer evenings. However, this is NEVER what happens. Ever. Instead, I do well for a few weeks and then the heat sets in and I can't keep up with it. Eventually, my beautiful flowers have turned to dry, brittle plants that no one can save.
So last year, I gave up trying. I didn't buy any plants. That's when I noticed the wild flowers that had sprung up in my back yard on their own. I've added a picture so that you can see them. They are called Lantanas and they grow wild here in Central FL. I think they are amazing! The colors are beautiful and the arrangement is so intricate. They are also hardy and not killed by the heat or lack of water. They grow without me tending to them. In fact, they grow better if I don't mess with them. They end up making intricate vines and grow better in a community together.
These flowers made me think of myself and my journey through life. How many times have I tried to "plant" myself into situations where I wasn't meant to be. How many times have I tried to pretend that I'm something I'm not to try to fit into those situations? How many times have I wished that I was a beautiful, cultivated rose or hydrangea that looks perfect and is always adored by all? How many times have I longed to not be wild, unruly, and a little untamed? But just like those flowers that I bought at Lowes and tried to transplant into my yard, I never thrive. I end up burned out, tired, sad and wondering what's wrong with me. It's not until I accept that God has placed me right where I belong, made me just the way I'm supposed to be, and just rest in the fact that He is the Gardener who knows where and when I will grow best that I grow, thrive, and am comfortable. Yes, I'm still wild and unruly, but He has found me a place where that works! Where I can learn, put down roots, grow stronger, and help others grow stronger. In this place is where I have found the beauty that He placed in me and be able to accept myself for who I am.
What about you? Are you accepting where God has you? Are you embracing it, learning from it, thanking Him for knowing what you need? If not, then join me in learning to relax and let the Gardener do His work. Lean into the fact that He will send the soil, water, and other things that you need to thrive. 
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me Phillipians 3:12

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