Trees and Flowers-The Makings Of A Teachable Moment

Hey friends and family,

You know how I am about nature...I could spend every spare moment outside. Now that it is warming up a bit, the bugs are starting to drive me indoors though. I hate it, but I would rather not have buggy bites all over my legs all summer. Maybe I just need to invest in some good organic bug spray. I have a feeling I will get desperate enough to try anything. Well, I digress.

Okay, back to my teachable moment with the flowers. I was recently enjoying a moment outside when this beautiful flower caught my attention. Isn't its beauty outstanding? It really is a show-stopper!

 I was thinking, as I often do, when it hit me, that I am to be like a show-stopping flower in this world. This thought went back to a conversation that I was having with some women recently. They were talking about current day-time television. I'll be honest, I don't watch that much tv, and don't watch tv at all during the day, so I was not participating in the conversation, but overhead it more or less. They were catching up on what so-and-so was doing. They were talking about the horrible relationship standards in these shows. They were actually talking about the characters in these shows as if they were real. As these women were talking, I pondered what it would mean to these women to see, in real life, an example of a beautiful godly women. A show-stopping women of God.

Then it hit me that as a Christian, I am called to be a show-stopping woman of God. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." -1 Peter 2:9 "Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possesion." -Deuteronomy 14:2  "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." -Matthew 5:16
Just like the quiet beauty of the flowers drew me to them, so will the quiet beauty of a chosen daughter of the King draw many to His throne. This is the challenge: to be a show-stopping beauty of the King!

 Now for the teachable moment that I had with the tree. I love to look up into the trees and see the sun filtering through the leaves and limbs. It is a beautiful and peaceful scene. Sometimes, I simply enjoy listening to the birds chirping and singing. I am always amazed at the beauty that is in nature.
I was spending a moment looking up into the tree branches, when I heard a loud crack and a limb fell to the ground. That is when I noticed the roots of the tree. I'll be honest, the roots of a tree have never looked beautiful and all that interesting to me. But at that moment, God reminded me of a sermon I heard.
The sermon was about your roots running deep. I wish I could remember the scripture that went with the sermon, but alas I can't. The point is that a tree with shallow roots is tossed and thrown about by the wind and can easily be uprooted. We must have deep, grounded roots in our Lord in order to withstand the wind and even the drought that will come in our walks. This is another picture of that: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." -Colossians 2:6-7  Now, I believe that roots are just as beautiful as the branches and leaves. The roots are so important! I think I shall spend some time grooming my roots. How about you?
God bless, until next time...