Encouragement grounded in Scripture
Rooted in truth. Anchored in Christ.
New reflections weekly.
-
The growing season
For over a year now, I have grown a deep affection for plants. The reasons and circumstances for this are a story in itself, and a subject for a later time…however, I used to absolutely hate them!
I could not keep anything alive. When my son and I did manage to plant anything, it either became food for the abundance of deer living in our parts, or just never bloomed.
Now, I have them everywhere. I am even known to stop and marvel at them on a walk.
My husband picks them up during trips to the grocery store.
My son has his own garden, that I enjoy watching grow on our patio or the windowsill. And I even like to watch them burst forth through concrete.
Those happen to be my favorite. Because it takes a heck of a lot of strength to grow in concrete, y’all!
What isn’t exactly my favorite is a plant’s “growing” season. It’s sometimes long. Sometimes dark. Mostly frustrating.
This is the season in which nothing is budding on those plants. You water and water but never see a bloom. The leaves are extra droopy. Sometimes the plant isn’t even very pretty to look at. And when you start to compare it to all those other plants? Those that grow and bloom without any fuss? Well, you start to want to give up on this one. It’s a dud. Not worthy of blooming. Just meant to rot away in its pot.
We are much like these plants. We have a “growing” season, too. And they aren’t all the same, but they don’t look or feel much different than that of a plant.
Maybe your growing season right now is in full bloom. You’ve been watered. Been looked after. Encouraged. The crop you are yielding is on full display for everyone to see.
Or…maybe right now you are planted in dry, parched land. Still trying to break through the hard surface. You are in a season of drought. Everything around you feels barren. Your leaves are droopy. Barely hanging on, and there are no buds ready to bloom in sight.
Maybe you are sitting by that big, pretty plant wondering what is taking you so long? When is your season coming?
Feeling like you are covered by a thick slab of concrete.
Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rain in the fall and the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. James 5:7
God will come to complete the harvest. It may not look like it now while everything around you is dry. Maybe the endless rains he has sent; those trials that leave you drowning in sorrow, feel like they are never going to end.
Be patient. At the end of this growing season, you won’t have to look around you at everything else in bloom. Comparing.
No. When you look, you will see that “winter is past. The rains are over and gone. The flowers are springing up, the season of singing of birds has come; and the cooing of turtle doves fills the air. The fig trees (that’s you, darling) are forming young fruit, and the grapevines are blossoming” (Song of Songs 2:11-13).
Rise up darling! You, beautiful one, are breaking through the concrete. In full bloom.
You, beautiful one, will grow in this season.
-
Stay in your lane
Track practice. Track uniforms. Long (and I do mean long…) track meets. That’s our new life right now. For a bit I was unscathed by “sports mom” duty. Thankful for not having to drive to and fro. Or sit through my Saturday in hot sun, or frigid cold temperatures on a Tuesday night.
Until I didn’t have that luxury anymore.
And while it has added a new dynamic to what is already our crazy family life, I am thankful for this season.
I am thankful that she chose it, because it means without mom and dad nagging her to do this or that-she invested in it because it was solely her idea.
I’m thankful for the memories it conjures up of my own long (hours long) track meets. The thrill of standing at the finish line cheering your teammates to the end, even if they didn’t win.
Even if they didn’t win.
I’m even thankful for that. Because it has taught me something. Watching my girl run with reckless abandon has taught me something.
Just stay in your lane. And what do I mean by that?
Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Life likens our unique purpose to a race. He states about our journey to fulfill God’s calling in our lives: “Don’t be envious of the runner in the lane next to you; just focus on finishing your race.”
And I have noticed something as I have watched my girl run. She stays in her lane. She isn’t looking back. She isn’t focused on who is ahead of her. She just runs, until she is finished.
And her teammates cheer her on until the end. Through the finish line. Because she finished. Not because she won.
And that’s the thing with these races. With watching these boys and girls run what appears to be the longest of laps around the track. You get applause just for finishing.
Not for being first. Not for running the fastest time. Not for using the perfect form to jump a hurdle. Not for jumping the highest. You are not looking at the person next to you to determine if you are better or worse.
You put YOUR best foot forward and you simply finish!
Stay in your lane today. Be it in a fast sprint or a slow stroll. Don’t compare yourself to the person who is faster, higher, or first.
Just run your race. At your pace, and finish. I’ll be at the finish line cheering you on.
-
What I know now
“Are you an albino?”
“I was wondering that, too. You know…because of the hair and big lips.”
Those questions? Those comments? They were made about me. All while trying to get through an already awkward middle school gym class.
Those comments told me these things: You don’t fit in. You look different. You don’t belong.
So I did everything over a number of years to somehow look like everyone else. I couldn’t change my lips, but I could at least try to change my hair. So I thinned it out. I tried to straighten it. So I could run my fingers through it like all the other girls could their hair.
Try as I might, I still looked different.
I wish I knew then what I know now.
“We’ve gotten some complaints about your ‘sass.’” You are passionate, but maybe tone it down a bit.”
“Pink hair? Interesting…”
“Doesn’t it say somewhere in the Bible that you shouldn’t have tattoos? And aren’t you a Pastor?”
“You’re so naïve. That’s cool and all, but you’re too naive. Face it! Some people are just jerks.”
Comparison and criticism didn’t stop in adulthood. If anything, it hurt worse.
I wasn’t in middle school anymore. We were all adults. Why were we still picking apart all things? And casting folks into categories?
I wish I knew then what I know now.
I wish I knew that those middle school taunts, though not forgotten, would one day not define me.
I wish I knew that I didn’t need the approval from those adults to fulfill a purpose God had given just to me.
I wish I knew then, because maybe it wouldn’t have taken me so long to stop straightening my hair. To show my daughter to love and style her beautiful curls. To love my face. All the delicate, and supposedly big parts of it.
I wish I knew then, that even if I didn’t fit anywhere in middle school, that I was accepted.
That if I didn’t fit the mold of what a pastor was supposed to look like, that I was made for a purpose.
That if I was naïve and saw too much good, that I was loved, and could show others this same love.
So others know they are also accepted. They also belong.
I don’t know what middle school lies you may be believing today. What mold you are being forced to fit into. Or who keeps telling you to give up on seemingly lost souls. Or even that you are one of them.
But it’s not true.
You are made for so much more. You are treasured. You are sacred. You are his. You’re beautiful.
He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3
-
Better than yesterday
Yesterday.
Yesterday was tough.
Yesterday you lost your temper. Yesterday you failed as a mom. Yelled at your kids. Snapped at your husband. A co-worker. A friend.
Yesterday you slipped. You fell back into old habits. Looking for anything to take away the pain, grief, sadness, loneliness you feel.
Yesterday you didn’t meet all the goals you set out to meet.
Yesterday you were a little less loving. A little more angry. Said things you didn’t mean, and wish you could take back.
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:22-23
Yesterday is over. Today provides new mercies. Today is a new day.
Today you are better than yesterday.
Today God has given you a new morning to start all over.
Today you will use your strategies to avoid losing your temper. Let go of little things, and focus on the good stuff.
Today you will be a bit more patient with your kids. Whisper, gently when they mess up. Take time to just hang out with them.
Today you will think before your speak. Thank your husband for all he does. Show appreciation to others as well.
Today you will intentionally work on that goal. Make steps to stay motivated.
Today you will show love and kindness to those in your presence. Talk it out instead of getting angry.
Today is a new day.
And if for some reason, you still fall today. Tomorrow will be new, too.
-
One simple word of gratitude
“Just wanted to let you know I am grateful for you and all you do for us! I love you!”
This was the text I sent after being challenged at the beginning of a company wide meeting to send a message to someone to let them know we were grateful for them.
It wasn’t hard to figure out to whom to send the text. And even though it wasn’t hard, I knew in my heart I would receive the following response: “Everything OK?”
It was an indication that while I profess to be kind and loving, I may not necessarily show gratitude as much as I should. Because this response was a humbling sign that sending messages of this nature may actually be out of my character.
We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 1 Thessalonians 1:2
Always. Never ceasing. To thank God for those who I have been blessed to have in my life.
I admit. I don’t always do this.
However, the Word tells us over and over to give praise. To offer Him thanksgiving for all He has done, but it seems easier to complain. To point out the things people have not done. To have a pity party when we don’t feel appreciated. Instead of setting a precedent and offering thanks and encouragement.
God desires thanksgiving in all things. In all circumstances. Instead, many times when we call on Him, we are spouting off a list of requests, and things we need. We don’t begin most of the time with a simple “Thanks!”
Thanks for our blessings. For all we have been given. Thanks for being present during the hard stuff, and the good stuff, too. Thanks for pouring out love, and when needed-guidance, direction, and protection.
Do we do this to people as well? Provide a list of wants, needs, and demands? Expecting they will always assist? Always help? Always come through? Without any appreciation for what they have done?
The response to my text was quite humbling, and it was a reminder that I have much work to do to continue to spread kindness and love in all the places I may be.
So, who needs your message of thanks today? Who needs to hear how grateful you are for all you have done for them? Who in your life needs to feel appreciated and feel your love? Stop right now. Send a message. And simply say “thanks!”
About Me
I am January! Wife, mother, meemaw, pastor, and mental health provider who makes it through the day with my coffee, my journal, and my God. A simple human, navigating life through the messy and sometimes chaotic. All focused on Him.
Follow Me On
Subscribe To My Newsletter
Subscribe for new posts, inspiration and exclusive content straight to your in-box.
Grace 'n Grounds 