Lake Travis United Methodist Church

Once again, I was out in the garden. It’s garden season…I guess we get a long garden season here in Texas, don’t we? One of the many reasons I love it here 😊.

Last year we had a bumper crop of zinnias and I harvested the seeds. (This year I’m letting them drop where they may.) So early spring we planted them, and as seeds have a tendency to do – some blew into places where I didn’t plant them. But you can’t have too many zinnias 😊. One in particular though came up in a precarious place where it got trampled quite a bit by our dog who loves to try and eat the tomatoes off the near-by plant. So this one zinnia ended up lying down, but it was still hanging on so I kept watering it. Well, the other night I got a good look at it – it now looks like a half a dozen new plants! Yet, it’s the same one zinnia stalk, but it’s grown about six shoots straight up that have now filled the space beautifully! The original stalk is lying on the ground, as a runner of sorts, and the limbs have grown up tall and beautiful.

It’s that idea of when things are hard, don’t go as expected, or make us feel totally upside down…do we lie down and give up? Or do we get creative and see what comes from it?

We just spent a week at my parent’s VBS where we focused on Paul’s journeys. As many times as I’ve thought about Paul and all the writings we have from him, it was something to imagine Paul and all he went through and all he did, and how many people he impacted. And then to think of how he began – as a persecutor of the Christians – but accepted Jesus’ love and allowed his life to be reimagined and totally changed.

To the church at Phillipi he wrote – “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” Philippians 4:11-12

And to the Romans he wrote – “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

So if you find yourself in a place that seems to have changed, isn’t working out as you thought it would, or doesn’t feel good – try something new! Don’t be afraid to mess up! Prayerfully seek God’s next steps for your life, so that you can discover God’s will – what is good, acceptable, and perfect.

May God bless your time with Him this week. May you look upon the face of Jesus and see Him in all His glory.

May the Holy Spirit move in you in ways you’ve never felt before. Amen…So be it 😊