Pleasant Places

She sits quietly in the garden, waiting for such a time as this.

I cannot take credit for her growth or grace; nor the way her deep purple petals slowly opened to reveal a sweet yellow face. 

 I cannot begin to understand  how an ugly brown seed placed deep in the soil, my hands barely dirty for the digging, grew up to be a picture of God's goodness and glory. 

But I do know this...

I planted that seed in hope of a coming beauty, and I was not disappointed. God, who orders our days even as we think we've got it all planned out, is in control. He knows how that seed becomes a flower, because He made it so.

Last week I was complaining to a friend that the seeds planted many months ago had not yet flowered and I was irritated. I wanted to hurry the process and yet haven't any means to make it grow. I watered and fed and tended as much as I knew how, but the waiting? That is hard - both in the garden that sits in my own back yard and the one I tend in my heart.

This heart-garden of mine has felt weedy, my hands dirty for the digging. I had been discouraged that the passing of years seems to have left some areas stunted and slow when I feel they should be pretty and light. At the very least, there should be some sustainable fruit.

However, through the course of many events last week- long walks with The Mister, the reading of God's Word, lunch with a friend, listening to the ladies in my small group - I'm encouraged. 

I cannot understand why the dusty brown seeds of my life have been set in pleasant places, but I do know this: set before an unknown future and surrounded by good friends and a loving community, I need only to bloom where I have been planted; focusing on Him who orders all things in this world and yet knows me better than I even know myself.  

I will not be disappointed.

..."Then you will know that I am the LORD; 

those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”

Isaiah 49:23