Growing Where You're Planted

By Pat

My house backs to the woods, which I have always enjoyed. It gives us more privacy, plentiful birds, and more opportunity to view God's majesty in the changing of each season through the beautiful leaves. And as a gardener, it's very convenient for tossing away things I have pulled out of my flower beds.

I happened to notice recently as I looked over my fence that a patch of daylilies I had thrown out had taken root and were growing beautifully, right where they landed. I couldn't remember for the life of me how long ago I had thrown them there, but there they were, strong and lovely, and looking as though they had been planted there on purpose.

I was so amused! I am very particular about the dirt in my flower beds. I buy special soils with certain nutrients to aid the growth and ensure the health of the flowers I plant. I add peat moss. I water, weed and worry over them all summer. And yet, there was that daylily plant, looking just as healthy as could be in the untreated dirt of the woods.

I often wait to do something the Lord would want me to, thinking that the timing is off, conditions aren't perfect, knowledge is lacking. I want the soil I am planted in to be just right. But those are lame excuses when I am asking God to help me to grow. I can grow in any condition, any circumstance, any time, no matter what I am planted in. God doesn't wait for perfection; He creates it. All we need to do is allow Him to nurture us, and He provides everything we need to grow, bloom and thrive for His kingdom. All we need is the honest desire to follow the Lord, and the rest is up to Him.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (Psalm 1:1-3)

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.

One Word At A Time: Broken

By Ginny (MAD21)

One of the many things children have to learn while growing up is how to express the way they feel appropriately. Imagine what the world would be like if adults handled themselves the same way that a child does when they feel frustrated, angry or upset. Scary. Aside from one experience I had with a project manager throwing a temper tantrum in my office several years ago (I actually wondered if he was going to throw himself to the floor!), most adults I know handle themselves and their emotions a little more judiciously.

As a child, the first experience I can remember when I learned a hard lesson about self-control was after a particularly bad day. I don't remember the specifics, except it was a fight with my mother, but I remember the anger I felt, and the frustration in not knowing how to express it. The first thing I did was go to my room and start crying (of course). But then I noticed my box full of crayons.

I loved to color. I had tons of half colored coloring books and papers everywhere. Like most kids, I had a lot of crayons I had collected over the few years of my young life, and I had been keeping them neatly in one of my old metal lunch boxes (remember those?). For the most part I always took very good care of my belongings, including my crayons. What kid doesn't like to color with nice whole, unbroken, crayons? But in one fleeting, angry moment, I made a terrible decision, one that I could not undo.

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Faithful Friends

By Pat

I talked to a good friend of mine this morning. It was really nice to laugh and chat, but especially to share our feelings, opinions and insights on the most important issue of our lives-our faith. He is struggling with many personal problems, carrying loads he never dreamed he would have to carry. I also struggle with issues and situations I didn't foresee, as most of us do.

My friend and I have very different feelings and theories about many aspects of God and faith; why we are allowed to struggle, God's sovereignty, just to name a couple. I don't always agree with him, as I am sure he does not always agree with me, and yet as I walked away from the phone this morning, I felt enlightened and uplifted. I will certainly think about some of the things we discussed as I always do when I have talked to a friend. I value his insights.

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Boot Camp Conversion

By Michelle (Graceful, Faith in the Everyday)

I can’t walk. Or climb stairs. Or bend to pick a shred of lint off the carpet. Or apply deodorant without groaning audibly.

Don’t be alarmed. I brought this misery upon myself.

Last Saturday morning I enrolled in my first-ever session of Boot Camp. The name, of course, should have been the first hint, but I figured I could handle it. I’m a runner right? How hard can “Boot Camp” be?

Yeah. Pretty hard. Especially when the instructor is the son of Satan. Seriously. Combine medicine ball thrusts, squats, lunges, jump roping, running, push-ups and the plank with suicide sprints, bicep curls with resistance bands and  “burpees” (don’t ask), and then– if you’re me – when it’s all over return home and paint your entire bedroom. Not just a touch-up job, mind you – I painted the entire bedroom, on a ladder, with a roller…after Boot Camp.

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Fingerprint Friday: The Right Words At The Right Time

By MAD21

This was a stressful week for our family. It started out with hurt feelings. Soon followed by angry words, some crying, more words, and more crying. It's never a good way to start a week.

However, within this rush of emotions and hurtful words was also a huge opportunity to grow, for both my kids and myself. It provided a time when we could all talk about why it's so important to love and respect each other. An opportunity for us to talk about how the words made each of us feel, and how God feels when we hurt each other.

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