They will stay FRESH and GREEN

I have cacti. Several Cacti.  I leave them in the house in the winter, no water, and then put them outside in the summer, and they bloom. It is amazing!!! More on those blooms another day though.

It always seems like a miracle to me the way these cacti survive, and even when as if forgotten, they still stay fresh and green.

A few weeks ago I had moved some of them around in the house (small house, lots of cacti!) and one was left under a table.  One day the sun was shining through the window and somehow was able to shine on the cactus under the table.  And I had no idea until that moment that it had started growing. The way the sun shone down on it, was as if to point out to me, "look, it is growing green even under there!" and it was beautiful.

Right next to a thorn. Beautiful green, with light shining on it so that it almost glowed!

What a reflection of me as child of God.  Sometimes it seems as if we are forgotten by God, when we dwell on our thorns and troubles.  But all along, He is right there, keeping me fresh and green and bearing fruit, through His Spirit and His Son.  "They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green" Psalm 92:14
Even in an unlikely person such as me, born a sinner, with all my thorns and imperfections, yet redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Even I can still bear fruit.

And so I bloom, right where I am planted, a reflection of Him, when He shines on me, and in me, and through me.

Here is an update, the cacti spent their first day outside in the sunshine and warmth of spring today, and look at how much it has grown!

And there is yet another baby starting, despite those sharp thorns:

Signing off for today, I have more to say about those other blooms another day.
Bloom where God plants you.
Christine

Bloomin' where God planted me!

This is my first post.  My long lost and now found friend Mary told me just to write what I want to write and to just do it so I am doing it!  She even helped me to get the title of my blog just right. Thanks Mary!


Today was the first real warm day of spring.  So nice! So I was walking around the side of the garage where I had set my pots last fall after the flowers had died.  To my surprise, I discovered that some crocuses had pushed through the ground underneath and bloomed, even though the pot was on top of them, and even though there was also a rock next to them.

I thought to myself, this is me.  You can pile life on top of me, and it may not be all what I dreamed and wished for, it may not be easy, it hurts sometimes, it seems impossible at times, and it makes me tired.  But I am going to bloom where God planted me.  And only through His Strength can I bloom. And it is all to His Glory so that others may see Him, not me.

                                                 Master Gardener, help me be

Content with where You’ve planted me;
You carefully place each seed you sow,
And choose the soil to make it grow,
A shady nook or sunlit plot,
A wooded glen or garden spot;
And when you send the storm and shower,
You give me strength and inner power;
All things come that You might be
Glorified, my God, in me;
And so I’ll lift my flowers high,
To cheer and bless each passerby;
And may they see within my face
The beauty of Your love and grace;
So help me, Lord, to ever be
Blooming where You planted me.

—Wm. Claire Greiner