Pondering this month about life in the garden, no matter how we live, by that I mean the circumstances of our lives. We are to blossom. Some of us bear small showy flowers in abundance or large in abundance. Others bloom once in their lives and it is finished.
The problem as I see it is that often we are not aware that no matter where we are planted we add to the world. What made this real for me this week after the death of a dear friend was the sight of some poppies growing in a crack in my driveway right under the garage door. Minuscule little plants with tiny flowers. Growing through the concrete with no visible sign of soil. Hmm that made me think about God and how He uses each one of us in different ways. The purposes of God are beyond explaining and there was no obvious to me, reason for those wee flowers to be there, as right next to them are some huge poppies planted in good soil. But God is the giver of life and He numbers our days. More than that He plans ahead of time the works we are to do.
Ephesians 2: 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
I have no answers as life is unfolding day by day.
My dear heart and I are celebrating our 50th anniversary next Saturday. Why do we have so much time together and others with less baggage get the shortened version. Maybe it takes this long to unravel the parts that need the redemptive work of our God. We are blessed with our children, their spouses and 4 wonderful grandsons. A church family that loves us and friends who stand with us during the unfolding of the senior experiences. Health can become an issue with surprising swiftness, pain can come to stay in the body parts, and what matters most is the ability to count the blessings each and every day. Sharing the joy with each other. Making new friends can be a delight and maintaining contact with friends and neighbours a true heart warming experience. It seems so much easier to tell them you love them with a sincere heart these later years. The busyness of life is diminishing and the yearning to have no regrets each day makes love and forgiveness the path of choice.
