Tag Archives: PLANTS

Give Me Some Room

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Be like a tree

“Stay grounded. Connect with your roots. Turn over a new leaf. Bend before you break. Enjoy your natural beauty. Keep growing”

by Joanne Raplis

A couple of months ago I brought all my plants home from work since we are now teleworking. I knew that I needed to repot all of them but kept delaying the process. Well what better time to do them, now that I have them at home. I would notice that the leaves would grow and then die. I knew that it was not getting over watered because I only watered it once a week. So, I figured it probably needed to be repotted.

To my surprise when I pulled it out of the pot I noticed:

1. How hard the roots were – they had formed into the container it was confined to.

2. Its barley had any soil left – it was not getting the proper nutrients

3. It was running out of room to grow.

Could it be that it was dying because it was suffocating and had no room to grow? That is was not getting what it needed to thrive?

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”

Philippians 1:6

So, I tried to spread the roots a part, but they were solid. I found a bigger pot and added some new soil. I placed the plant inside, added more soil to cover the sides, and the top completely, and then I watered it down good. Within a week, it looked very healthy, and it was growing like crazy.

God will allow things to change around you to force you to move or make the necessary changes because He knows that you want to do it on your own. Sometimes it is disguised in trauma, heartbreak, and pain. It is not to kill or destroy you, but to realign you and to make you better.

In this season God is healing you, redeveloping you and redefining who you are. He is expanding your territory and stretching your capacity. You want to be able to fit in the container that once held you.

My prayer for you today is that you would allow God to complete the process. That considering all that is going on around you, that you would still have hope to not give up and to keep going.

Song List

They Are Depending On Us

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The other day I was going out to water my plants and some of the neighborhood kids came around me like flies asking could they help me.

I have been out here several times and have never had that happen. When I am in my garden this is normally part of my meditation time with God and to be honest I was needing that time, but I saw this as an opportunity to minister by way of help. I put my needs aside and humbled myself before God so that he could use me in that moment. So as I began to let them take turns some of them would try to spray the others, drink the water or play with it and I would have to guide them back to focus on what they were suppose to be doing while still having fun. It was a very simple task and I realize it probably had a lot to do with it being water, but the excitement and the energy they displayed in wanting to help made it hard to resist. My next door neighbor said if they are bothering you, you can send them back. I responded that they weren’t a bother. You know I love the kids and I will get them if I need to. Lol, he said please do. Two of the kids I had known since they were babies, but only one of them remembered me and she gave me a hug. She is 8 years old, boy do I feel old. As we completed the task together I told them thank you for helping me and they said you welcome with big smiles on their  faces and then they ran away. My heart was filled with joy, now that I miss. Back at my old church I worked with the Youth Ministry and they have always been one of my passions. Though I don’t deal with them in a great capacity as I did then I realize that was my teaching ground for what is to come and I try to be open to what he is doing now. The words that Jesus spoke are  so important as it gives us our direction, but I believe his greatest impact in his ministry was what he did. When I reflected back on it God showed me how I ministered to them at that moment. 1. You showed them how to serve 2. You gave them opportunity 3. You gave them direction along the way 4. You showed them love by allowing them to come in your space and with a cheerful heart 5. You showed them appreciation 6. They went away filled 7. You were ministered back to you. WOW! I was blown away. That happened within maybe 15-20 mins. We can sometimes make ministry so hard and really it’s that simple. I thank God for being humble enough and open to what he was trying to do in that moment. Although I may never know the impact that one moment may make on their lives, but Ican only image the thought if I would have turned them away.  It still takes a village. Don’t be so caught up in the former glory that you miss out on what God is trying to do through you now. He’s coming another way.

Don’t Count Out The Things You Can’t See

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About 1 1/2 months ago I was given some Rose of Sharon’s to plant. When I counted them there was a total of 15. I thought where am I going to put all of these. So I began to look where I might be able to plant them. They needed to get planted in the ground so its roots would settle and be firm enough to survive the winter. Once I planted them I made sure to water them every other day unless we had a good rain where I didn’t have to go water them. I would continue to look and see if there were any signs of new life. As long as I saw the evidence of new leaves growing, there was a good chance that they would survive. There were two of them that shriveled up and looked dead. No evidence or sign of life at all. I thought about uprooting them, then throwing them away and planting something else in it’s place, but I kept hearing the Lord say don’t give up on them just yet. In my mind I’m like God do you not see the condition of these plants? There would be times that I would be making my rounds to water my plants and wouldn’t even bother watering those two at all. My thoughts were what is the use. I was only looking at them in their present condition. It’s amazing where our frame of mind is at times and how we treat each other and are so ready to disregard and throw each other away because we can’t see past where someone is today. God told me to start watering them again and to not give up on them just yet. So I did as He had instructed. It had rained all day yesterday and when I came home I looked around at all of my plants and was amazed how they were growing. I saw signs of new life from things that I didn’t even plant and they were beautiful. God said go look at the plant. I had to bend down in order to see it because it was much smaller than the other ones. Sure enough there were some new leaves starting to grow on it. There were signs of new life and to think I almost go rid of them. A lot of times we will give up on our dreams, our visions, our desires and each other because we can’t see any evidence of life. We are only looking at them in their present condition. There are some things God has said don’t give up on IT just yet. Though you can’t see any evidence doesn’t mean that it isn’t working, that something isn’t growing underneath the ground, that He isn’t working in the back ground scenes of your life. Faith sees when there is no evidence, because it looks beyond what it sees now and believes. #CLEANTHISHOUSE