about a flower

Bam!  Beautiful!  Full bloom brilliance.  A flower is not difficult to recognize.  I've never heard anyone say "I think that was a flower, but I wasn't sure".  They are unmistakable.

Fall rolls in & the mums bloom.  Another season, featuring different flowers.   My faulty garden planning did not account for fall blooms.  The annual flowers have faded, perennials out of season.  All I have are herbs - rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil etc.  Lots of pretty greenery, no pretty blooms.  Herbs can bloom, but typically they bolt.

Blooming & bolting produce unmistakable flowers. The process inside the plant is what defines the difference for blooming vs bolting.

To bloom - The product of a healthy plant in a reproductive cycle to establish new seeds, or provide fruit.

To bolt - when a crop prematurely flowers due to stress & unhealthy conditions.  The plant panics & must reproduce quickly in case death is imminent. The crop becomes very bitter to taste.

Here is wiki paraphrased:
To bloom: flourish, a time of vitality, beauty, fragrance.
To bolt: to run quickly away or as a method to fastening something. Not exactly the horticulture definition, but quite telling with connotation.

Am I blooming or am I bolting?

I can clearly identify bolting in my life.  Times of stress, hurt, pride - when I should have been focused on drawing into the vine - John 15:5.  Instead I was focused on those flowers that I thought I could have.  A tree is known by it's fruit, so what am I if I'm not producing fruit?

Even in my front yard it is easy to play the comparison game.  My herbs... there is just not many brilliant flowers there.  It's not their season, nor their purpose.  My neighbors mums - simply breathtaking. (I thought it was a bit stalker-ish to snap a pic of them, so I posted a marigold pic above that I took this summer)

Blooming?  or bolting?

Perhaps its in the words: stress, bitter, fear, pressure, feeling confined, wanting to run or escape. Feelings of having something to prove to others, self or God.  Discontentment,  Very little is as frustrating as watching my best efforts shoot up into a bitter mess.

Even in my front yard it is easy to play the comparison game.  My herbs... they are not brilliant flowers.  It's not their season, nor their purpose.  My neighbors mums - simply breathtaking.

Antidote to bolting?  Let me define another term.

ABIDE

According to Merriam-Webster, Abide is defind as this: TO WAIT for.  to endure without yielding: withstanding.  to bear patiently.  to REMAIN stable or fixed in a state.  to continue in a place.

Take a break from the outward appearance, blooming & fruiting. The French proverb should not be 'bloom where you are planted'.  The proverb should read ABIDE where you are planted.   Sorry to the French, you're wrong on this one.

Abiding is prayer, reading His word, sitting at His feet & listening, living out psalm 84 without interruption.  Being content being HIS.

Healthy plants abide.  Only healthy plants bloom.

My herbs in my front garden are healthy but their value is not in their bloom. They don't need that kind of attention. I will soon harvest & dry their leaves. They will be a sweet fragrance & a savory flavor in my home throughout a dormant winter season.  I could run out and get some hardy mums - blooms are wonderful things - but this year, this season... I really need this reminder of abiding.

Trust in the Lord and do good; 

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Take delight in the Lord, 

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord; 

trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,

your vindication like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord

and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

 Psalm 37:3-7

lurking in the leaves

Want to grow a garden? Start with green beans. My personal preference are pole beans. They grow like a vine so you can even plant them in atypical garden spaces.  

In August & September I enjoy harvesting green beans daily - this year I have separate pole bean towers.  It's important that I turn over all the leaves in search of ripe beans. If I miss one, it will turn tough & the beans start protruding from the typical slender shape.

This year one of my towers has become home to a giant grasshopper (I didn't know God made them that big!).  I found him when I was turning over leaves. Rather he found me. He is reliable to show up when I least expect him, but refuses to be photographed.  He may be a she... I never think to ask. I named him/her Wilber.

I ran into Wilber again today. For the first time he hopped off entirely off the tower & I could finally harvest in peace.

As I continued to over turn leaves today it became quite clear, I fear Wilber. This became more obvious as I found green beans hiding everywhere that had become over-ripe & several rotten. This subtle fear had altered my behavior. I was now missing out on the good stuff...because I was afraid of what might be lurking in the leaves.

My surprise wasn't really that fear motivates me to miss out on things - although it is always a good reminder.  There is much to digest on this part alone.

My revelation was that I HAD NOT REALIZED I WAS AFRAID.

The fear shackles that do the most damage are the ones we don't acknowledge.

I hadn't noticed how timidly I was weaseling my way through the green beans to avoid the surprise of a Godzilla-sized hopper jumping out at me.  I would have never noticed the untouched fruit had the threat not jumped away.  Above all, what can Wilber really do to me anyway?  His only power is to scare me.

What about you? I don't usually ask you much, but today I am asking you to notice. Notice your fears, however irrational.  Notice the why behind your actions.  Is it time to dismiss this power in your life?

A life lived in fear misses everything & gives nothing.  To impact the world, we simply must throw off our fears & live in freedom.

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, 

but gives us power, 

love and self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7