A Tulip In Bloom

I was a tropical flower, cut down and wilted.

I was shipped to a new country, where I could not be transplanted.  This tropical flower would bloom no more.

"BUT because of his great love for us,
GOD, who is rich in mercy, made us alive…"
Ephesians 2.4

Summer of 2014, I was a lone foreign flower in a sun-scorched land.  I felt like I would never find roots, never bloom again.

"The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail."
Isaiah 58.11

God's Word was the rain, and I was a new bud.

"As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish…
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire."
Isaiah 55.10-11

The Gardener tilled the soil of my heart, and planted something new within.

Seasons changed.  Summer.  Autumn.  Winter.

Then, suddenly something green began to emerge from the bare brown ground.

Evidence of Grace.  Life Renewed.

A tulip bright and colorful bloomed, bringing hope.  A testimony of faithfulness, of healing.

"But blessed is the man who trusts
in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream."

Jeremiah 17.7-8

Prayer of my heart:

Faithful Gardener,
I give you thanks that "a bruised reed you will not break" (Is. 42.3).
Thank you for life and hope, despite darkness and winter.
Thank you for healing and renewal, in spite of brokenness and hurt.
Thank you for strength and faith, in the midst of pain and trials.
Thank you for your Word, which watered my soul.
Make me a well-watered garden that bears much beauty for your glory.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener….
every branch that does bear fruit, 
he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." John 15.1-2

Post-script:

I blogged for nearly a decade, from 10.02.04 to 05.13.14, at Beautiful Becker Feet.  That blog remains as a history book for reference and reflection.

A college professor once said to me: "When you are in the middle of something, be slow to put out words during that time."  I took his advice, and refrained from blogging lest I hurt or harm others in my pain.

My passion for writing had begun to burn inside me again, but I had been waiting until I had it "together" to begin blogging again.

Then one day my counselor said to me:
"Let them see your cracks, so God's glory will shine brighter."

I am still not all sorted and together.  I am still on the journey.  But perhaps at this point I can invite you in to what I am learning.  Maybe someday I will go back to retell what God did during those 11 silent months on the blog.

But for now, I offer you my cracks, and a chance to bend down and smell…
A Tulip in Bloom!

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."  2 Cor. 4.7