Monday, May 7, 2012

Bloom Where You are Planted

You've probably all heard the phrase, "Bloom Where You are Planted".

While I'd like to think that's how I live out my life, I often don't. I wonder, "why am I here"..."why this?"..."this is not what I had hoped for". For each time I remind myself that I should let my life blossom and be a sweet fragrance to others around me and to make the most of the here and now, I forget twice as much.

It's often hard to see the beauty amidst the storms and to start feeling sorry for yourself. Especially when your circumstances threaten to cut you down. But beauty can rise.

Nearly 14 years ago, my husband and I purchased our home: a TRUE fixer-upper. Although it needed work (and still does!), it was ours! We quickly went to work making improvements inside and out. Included in the projects we tackled that summer was some serious yard work. Back in it's glory, our house had been surrounded by gorgeous blooms and beautifully tended flower gardens. The flower gardener had long since gone and years of neglect and lack of knowledge had destroyed what once was.

Being young and somewhat ignorant about flowers and landscaping, we noticed a patch of weeds in what we could only imagine to have been a lush flower bed outside our kitchen window. We quickly went to work chopping down those "weeds". The next spring, those weeds made a return appearance, and once again, my hardworking husband went to work cutting them down.

It wasn't until the following spring that something happened. Again those pesky weeds started to sprout. But, in the chaos of life, busy schedules, and perhaps inclement weather, we weren't so prompt in clearing them away. It was then, that we saw the true beauty.

Though we had cursed them and cut them down repeatedly they rose up again and again and eventually...blossomed. In fact, what we had thought were nuisance weeds turned out to be one of the loveliest flowers we have here: a bed of Oriental Poppies. We just needed to allow them to grow.

Just this weekend the first bloom of the season opened.


As I looked out this morning, the beauty had multiplied and several more had come to life overnight.

What a great reminder that even when things are looking dark and worthless, circumstances are threatening to steal joy and feelings of loneliness creep in: beauty can rise if we let it and other "flowers" may even sprout by your side and join your garden of life. Sometimes we just need  to sit back, weather the storms and live in the present while allowing the beautiful buds time to grow.


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