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| The Unlikely Bloom in all it’s Glory! |
Coffee in hand “Bible Bag” in tow, I headed off to my early morning quiet time in the seclusion of my lovely and much appreciated back patio. This is the place where I meet the Lord in the Summer as I sit and watch all of the bustling and entertaining activities His creatures perform for an audience of one. Well two, really. This morning was not unlike the other beautiful mornings. I come. He comes. I listen for His still, small voice. Sometimes I hear Him clearly, sometimes not at all. Some days I pour my heart out, other days I ponder all He is showing and teaching me. I read His word, reflect on His generous love and mercy, pray for those that come to mind and meditate on His truth. Often he uses the simplest things to offer the most profound insights and lessons. Sometimes the lessons are gentle, other times harder to swallow. Always they are measured out in love and grace, never in condemnation. He is not the bringer of that, that is not the way of the Teacher, but the way of man. This morning I was overjoyed to see the first Sunflower bloom towering jubilantly over the birdbath in the backyard. This is a much anticipated flower, you see because it was not intended by me, my husband or anyone else for that matter. And yet there it was from seed to flower without, effort, intention or attention from us. It truly is one of my very favorite flowers and much to our surprise God has intended that there should be quite a few of the lovelies billowing, beautifully from this place for the birds and my utter, glorious joy!
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| The first! |
You see, the past few years we have been feeding the birds with abundance and plenty of Sunflower Seeds have been shelled, shucked, plucked and pecked during this time. At first the stalks were thought to be weeds but this Summer they have shot up with supernatural strength and speed. I remember the mess of shells at the base of the feeder and thinking to myself what a mess was left. But I knew the birds and other sweet critters (my family calls me Snow White) had been regularly feeding through the seasons. Both my Mom, who lives with us, and I, so enjoyed providing for them we could not be bothered about the messiness of their eating habits. So instead of a mess, now what I see is the most unlikely blooms where love was planted and a sweet reminder of how God’s purposes prevail in the end.
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| Pre-flower- anticipating the blooms to come. |
Look at the birds of the air ; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable then they? ~ Matthew 6:26
It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire of effort but on God’s mercy. ~ Romans 8:16
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the
law of sin and death. ~ Romans 8: 1-2
Well, I am truly blessed and feel kissed by Him, today!
Enthusiastically & In His Grace- I remain,
Dawn
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| Notice the smaller stalks to the right! A harvest of Blessing to come! |
Lord, let me remain in you, remember that your purposes prevail
and in the end what remains is love. All else will be gone, pulled up by the roots.
(prayer based on Matthew 15:13)
I am linking this post today anew with Emily and friends at Imperfect Prose.
April 25, 2012
Enthusiastically, Dawn 
Amen! What a beautiful reminder of God's grace and sovereignty!
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What a lovely post; I have always loved Matthew 6:26. It is a great verse to remind us of how important our inner beauty is and how we should “bloom” and “grow”. :)Denise
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Great post, and thoughts…thanks for your message and entering for the pearls! Good luck!
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smiles…that is really cool…and neat too that the mess is becoming blooms…a great metaphor in itself…we have deer that eat the low hanging fruit off our arbhors…its worth it to see the little ones…
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Stopping over from emily's and all I can think is, “Where on earth does she live that sunflowers are already in bloom?Actually, that's not all I'm thinking. I'm thinking this is such a lovely example of learning to rest in God's provision, to let go of my ideas about how I'm in control. Beautiful.
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oh, i'm so jealous that you already have sunflowers in bloom! they are my favorite flower. and what a powerful promise that blooms along with them. bless you friend.
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I love this…unintended…but God's grace always is…if you come to my place you will see i love sunflowers too…blessings to you~
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