Grow Sweet Sister

They weren’t supposed to grow. It was one of those years for us. Although my husband offered, I passed on spending one cent on beautifying my back patio with flowers and living things. I wanted to, but everything else in life felt like a barren, stark, thirsty, hungry, parched land. For years our resources have been bombarded by an unending stream of medical-related needs and I was tired of it all. Tired of the heat. Tired of the emptiness. Tired of the unchanging scenery that always screamed lack.

So I wept my tears out before the Lord, asking Him to infuse my weary soul with His presence…with purpose…with hope. I chose courage even though my heart quaked, and put my hand once again to the plow He had assigned me to. But I didn’t expect much more than to survive.

Summer arrived in all her glory and with all her outrageous commitments. But grace was there too…because Christ was there…so I kept following, kept trusting. And then one day they were there. All on their own. They were annuals – planted last year in planters that lay dead and dormant since last summer. That froze solid in the winter. That should never ever have produced anything.

But suddenly there was life. Pushing up through the soil. Defying the odds. Refusing to give up. Delicate, but tenacious. Fragile, but free. Unconcerned with everything that conspired against it. It grew because it chose life. Chose to respond to the sun’s invitation to push up and grow. Chose to wiggle its roots deep right where it was planted and receive the nourishment that was there.

And I learned a lesson from those little flowers… Life does not restrict me, my choices do. The Son always beckons to me to join Him where He is sitting in Heavenly places. He always provides all the nourishment I need to grow up into Him in all things…in all places…against all odds.

Grow sweet sister – in all the places they said you never could – in all the ways they said it was impossible – against the howl of the wind or the bareness of the desert. Defy the odds, the predictions. Your Father sings over you. Your Shepherd protects and nourishes you. There is nothing to fear. Nothing to lose. Everything to hope and believe for. There is amazing purpose and potential in your life – RIGHT WHERE HE PLANTED IT.