Bloom where you are planted

Today I was thinking about all the things in my life that I didn't want. 

Like living in the small Saskatchewan town I grew up in and marrying someone from down the road and being at home without a job and how I'm so so thankful for all of those things right now. So who knows? Maybe, just maybe, one day I'll grow up enough to even be thankful for winter and Februarys.  But not yet, at least not all the time. Yesterday though.  Yesterday was a beautiful day and my soul felt full. 

Yesterday was the anniversary of my brother leaving his messed up broken earthly body for heaven. 

For me, yesterday began with unexpected blossoms of frivolous beauty bursting into the kitchen as our hibiscus tree unfurled flower after flower in a gaudy display of colour that can only be described as excessive. I loved it.

It continued with the most uplifting hour of movement in my week (if you haven’t ever had the joy of trying Centergy with Tammy at Soulpower Fitness in Martensville then you are missing out), followed by time outside drenched in unseasonal sunshine and warmth. 

Later in the day, I had the privilege of spending time with my kids in their classes and hearing about their progress in the very school and community that has cared so deeply for our family. Every time I enter their elementary school, I remember that support. I viscerally feel connected to my brother who left that school gym in an ambulance in grade 5 but who remains in so many of our hearts. 

After as we tromped out with our scholastic book fair treasures, my kids puffed up with affirmations from their special teachers, I felt so thankful, just filled to the brim with gratitude. What a surprising blessing to be able to grow and live here in this tiny windy icy corner of the earth and get to see the next generation of incredible humans thrive. And they get to be my little humans for a while. What a privilege.

When we tumbled through the door from the garage to get ready for supper, I headed to the kitchen and the blossoms from the hibiscus were already beginning to curl back into themselves. Me too. 

And that's okay because not every moment can be bursting with sunshine and colour. Not every day is for blooming spectacularly and the growing seasons can be dull but yesterday I was encouraged that changes can be imperceptible and still happening. They can unfold into beauty when we least expect it and mostly, we just have the job of stopping to appreciate that when it happens.

Yesterday I remembered that 27 years can feel like a day and a day like 27 years and that time is bigger than the calendar on my wall. Even after the colour and the blooming is gone, our souls remember. The joy and beauty remain and we carry them forward with us.

Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life,... See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin [wool to make clothing], yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendour dressed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive and green today and tomorrow is [cut and] thrown [as fuel] into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), ... [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows what you need. But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.