We have a bulb garden in our backyard.  It’s filled with various flowering bulbs that bloom at different times of the year.  The winter Paperwhites have finished blooming already, as well as their cousins, the Daffodils.  I’m especially fond of the yellow cheery faces of Daffodils, because they remind me of sunshine breaking through clouds on a dreary day. 

Now Asiatic lilies and Easter lilies have poked through the earth, their stalks already reaching two feet in the air.  However, they won’t bloom for another month or two.  Soon the Gladiola will begin to emerge and will flower throughout the summer. Beneath all of these will be mounds of Oxalis, looking like shamrocks with delicate red flowers rising above them.

But today, none of the bulbs are in bloom.  Some are resting, waiting in silent slumber for their time on the stage.  Others have begun reaching up toward the sun, their fresh green stalks growing strong to hold the flowers that will soon burst forth. Still others, having already poured out their annual offering, are gathering strength from the sun through foliage that will remain just a short while longer.  The strength being gathered will provide power for next years’ blossoms, which will come again in their proper season.  Soon the foliage will begin to die, turning brown…a bit unsightly.  Eventually it will need to be cut back, pruned all the way to the ground because it has gone dormant. 

To the untrained eye the plant appears dead.  However, the bulb is merely sleeping, resting, storing up energy. It’s waiting for the time the sun moves to the right position to cause it to grow and bloom once again.  That’s their cycle: grow – bloom – rest.  Grow – bloom – rest.

I think I feel like a bulb.  I’m tired today.  MS fatigue has left me drained…spent…exhausted – feeling I can do nothing but rest…much like a bulb that has just put all of it’s energy into blooming it’s beautiful flower.  Those who aren’t familiar with MS tell me all sorts of things they think will bring me back to life.  However, I know my body has gone dormant and I need to rest.  I need to be fed and nourished and soak up the rays of the sun…the Son.  I need my roots to grow deep in the soil of God’s word.  I need water and rain from the Holy Spirit to refresh and strengthen me for the next season.  When the Son says it’s time, I will bloom again.   But for now I’ll be content with this gift of rest.

Where are you in this cycle?  I hope you allow the Lord to refresh and strengthen you with the nourishment you need, so you, too, can bloom alongside the other bulbs in God’s garden.

Ecclesiastes 3:1  There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.

The last time it rained here the little birds that frequent our feeders stayed in the shelter of the large trees on our property.  Raindrops splashed all around, but they were safe and dry.  When the sun finally came out, they arrived at their feeding troughs by the dozens – chattering and chirping as they sought  spots on each perch.  They were pretty hungry since they hadn’t been able to eat for most of the day.  And so they ate with abandon – without a care in the world…until…

Another bird hadn’t been able to eat for most of the day, also: the hawk!  And in he swooped, hungrily snatching up an unsuspecting song bird as it sat eating it’s supper – becoming supper itself for this larger bird of prey.

I think there’s a lesson in that.  I’ve noticed that when I’ve gone through a storm in my life and the rain clouds have moved on, I easily return to my regular routine.  Sometimes I forget the lessons that I learned during that time, thinking I won’t have to deal with them again.  Other times I focus so much on what I’ve learned that I feel I have blinders on and don’t notice what is taking place around me.  When I do either of those, my enemy can easily sneak in and snatch me away from that place of focus on God and His way of living.  I get kind of selfish and me-focused; I begin to grumble; I lose my compassion for the needs of others.  Before I know it my peace is gone and I’m miserable – and probably miserable to be around!

I want to make sure this is a lesson I don’t forget.  Regardless of what I encounter in life I want to always be “merciful in action, kindly in heart, humble in mind” (Col 3:12-13, Phillips).  I want to live out my theme for this year and “…run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Heb. 12: 1-2).  With that focus – eyes fixed on Jesus – I’ll be ready to stand firm when the enemy tries to attack.

It’s raining again today. What will your focus be?

I love working in my garden.  It’s mid-winter in Southern California and this is the time of year we prune back our roses and other plants.  In our front garden some of the plants had gotten so big and grown so close together, that when the branches were pruned back we were surprised to find other small plants underneath!  We’d forgotten they were there and it was an unexpected gift to find them there!

On the street side of the garden, when we pruned the salvias back we found another surprise: a little yellow ball with a happy face on it 🙂  That made us smile.

When our lives are “pruned” by God, the Master Gardener, we usually don’t like it.  It can be painful and hard to deal with when things are removed.  But if we look more closely we just  might find some unexpected surprises or something small that’s now exposed to God’s light, allowing it to grow.

Who knows – you might even find a happy face ball – or a happier face than you’d thought possible.