BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED

Whenever I see a beautiful pot of flowers in full bloom, I am reminded that this would be something unattainable for me in my own garden. I know enough about gardening that for continual and healthy blossoming of flowering plants it would need to be fed with the right type of fertiliser, have sufficient sunlight and to be provided a consistent tender loving care (TLC) routine. Oh well, I think an annual trip to the nursery for those one-time blooms to last beyond the festivities would be the only consistent routine I can handle!

We all know that plants absorb nutrients and water from the soil to grow well and yet some ecologists will agree that plants do ‘feel’ or sense the surroundings and react to various different factors to decide when they feel good and the right time to grow or bloom!

To say the least, in the same way, humans, too, react to influences, situations and people around us. All must agree that when things are not going the way we want it to or when life dishes out obstacles in our way we do find it hard to be chirpy and cheery about life. But whatever circumstances we may be in at different stages of our lives, we must know and remember that God has always wanted to give abundant blessings to us - “The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us” (Psalm 67:6).

So where can we find our blessings in times like these? Not in material things, but in our spouse, our children, our parents and people whom we cross paths with. We all have had our fair share of disappointments in life - from a less than desirable childhood, through hurtful relationships and eventually the pressures of our adulthood. Times when we wished we could be in a different place or sometimes more drastically, in a different family – but we must remember that we have been “planted” exactly where God wants us to be, using our experiences to share and help each other “bloom”!

One parent recently shared in our Lenten Reflection that it is through difficult and hard times - times of loss and pain - that she finds peace and comfort in her faith. It is in times like this that she feels God more closely in her life. This sense of peace in turn reflected to her children, who then grew interested in what it was that upheld her.

We will always be blessed wherever we may find ourselves “planted”. We may have wondered, “Can life ever be a bed of roses?” Well, maybe if we all strive to draw from our surroundings, finding the good in each person or each situation and never letting the bad overcome the good, perhaps then life could become one big and beautiful bed of roses stretching across miles. Let us flourish in our lives and our mission, as parents, to become fine examples of our God’s untiring and consistent TLC.