Thursday, March 10, 2016

Laced With Grace...bloom where you are planted

TODAY'S LACED WITH GRACE POST:

Like a flower that grows through a crack in the concrete, sometimes we have to just make the best of our situations and bloom right where we have been planted.

I didn’t really understand this concept until someone gave us this wisdom several years ago. After hearing God call us into ministry, we entered a frustrating period knowing the WHAT but not knowing the HOW or the WHEN. When we asked one of the leaders of our denomination, whom we had great respect for and whom was in top leadership for many years what advice they had for us; this is what we got…

“Bloom where you are planted.”

At the time, we thought this advice was crazy; off the rocker and surely not something we expected to hear from such a great leader. But over time, THIS was exactly what we needed to hear and what we needed to do.

You see, not all of us are where we want to be in life quite yet. Not everyone can just quit their 9 to 5 job to chase their dream. Most of the time achieving a dream takes time, perseverance and alot of hard work. We may not be exactly where we want to be or even where God wants us to be, but instead of becoming bitter or frustrated with our progress, why not make the best of our situation.
BLOOM WHERE WE ARE PLANTED!

Whether you know this or not, every step that you take prepares you for the next step. Each chapter in our life is building a foundation to launch the very next chapter. No good book jumps to the ending right away, you have to work yourself thru the chapters first, taking in each adventure as it leads to the finale.

I love the famous quote from Maya Angelou, even though it isn’t spiritual, it is descriptive of spiritual maturity…
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude about it.” -Maya Angelou
We live in a culture where we like to blame others. The blame game card has been played ever since the garden when Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the snake. The truth is, we can never expect others to change, we must learn to change ourselves and let God change the rest. And until He turns the page in your yet to be told story, don’t blame yourself or others … just bloom where you are planted.

Be content. Be patient. Be ready.
“Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you.” -1 Corinthians 7:17
Never assume that you are in the wrong place, perhaps God has you right where He wants you for
such a time. BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED!

BLESSINGS, LAURIE