Sunflowers

   Last year I was given a couple ferns as a gift.  They were massive and it was right at the tail end of fall which meant if I was going to keep them alive it would have to be inside.  So I found a reasonable place for each of the two ferns and proceeded to try and care for them well.  Things looked good for awhile.  Then some of the leaves started to die.  I would forget to water for a few days and realize that I had just killed an entire section.  I went on vacation and came back to realize that I had forgotten to tell someone to water one that wasn’t in plain sight.  It was in a back hallway.  Needless to say that one unfortunately met its demise. 

   So I return from vacation one fern down, and one struggling to survive.  Each day spring is getting closer and the temperatures are getting warm enough for me to get this poor plant outside.  I finally take it out and set it on my deck.  I looks even sadder outside.  At least in my room it was turned in such a way that shadows and placement made it look fairly healthy.  The sun hits it and I begin to water it.  Some parts of the fern are coming back to life beautifully and others seems to just stay dead.  

   Side note, I love birds and have two bird feeders on my deck.  I love sipping my coffee and watching them fly around and sing.  Just something simple about the pleasure they find in life.  With that simplicity comes a lot of mess.  These birds throw the seed everywhere which takes us back to the original story.  

     So I decide to pull out some of the dead parts of the fern.  I gently cut out the rotting parts and leave the healthy places.  After doing this I feel like the poor plant should just be thrown in the trash.  It barely resembles a fern anymore.  I continue to water it.  It continues to soak up the morning sun and enjoy the fresh air.  Then I notice a shift.  New things start springing out of the plant.  I think that they are weeds but I leave them to see what happens.  Not only did the healthy sections of my fern start thriving again, I now had a sunflower plant because some of the seeds had taken root in the pot that the fern was in.  This mangled fern had become something beautiful.  I now am looking at these beautiful happy sunflowers that are blooming, thankful I didn’t throw away the fern and give up on it.  

    Of course I see the Lord in this.  I think that is how He teaches me best is through visuals.   Seeing things that apply to my life in the world around me.  This plant is very similar to my heart.  To all of our hearts.  We hide in the shadows things that we don’t want to deal with.  We forget to feed our spirits.  We don’t allow the Lords light to soak into our hearts and as a result we have dead patches.  We have areas of our lives that we strategically maneuver in order to still look healthy, but we aren’t.  

   Then if we allow the master gardener to do his work, he takes us out into the fresh air.  We are exposed.  We are vulnerable and we feel like we should be thrown into the trash….but the gardener sees more.  He cuts out the dead.  He removes the sin areas of our lives and helps us cultivate health in the core of us.  With this tilled up soil that is being nurtured, fresh seeds fall of truth and life and take root.  Continuing to be open to the gardeners work new BEAUTIFUL LIFE springs forth.  

    The blessing of obedience is a journey and its challenging and its vulnerable…but the beauty that comes is something that brings joy and life that is far to good to miss out on.