Shocked

Bryce made me a gerbera garden for my birthday. I LOVE gerberas. A friend told me last week they are the smile of the garden and my garden is well and truly smiling. One of the little gerberas wasn't smiling for a week or so though, it was a bit traumatised by the whole planting experience.

Bryce was eager to get the gerberas out of their pots and into the newly prepared holes in the garden bed. The potted plants needed a bit of roughing up around the roots to get them ready for the soil, but he was a little too heavy handed on the first gerbera and it didnt take kindly to having some of its roots broken. It spent its first week in the soil with all of its leaves and its two flowers limp and lying on the ground. It was still alive, but had no strength. We watered them every day and even covered this struggling one to protect it from the sun and it's just starting to look better this week.

Sometimes our replanting in life can leave us feeling weak and unable to stand. It's sometimes like God picks you up out of your little pot where you have been comfortably living, only to rip away your network of roots and leave you seemingly fending for yourself in a hot and dry environment.

But that little gerbera wasnt left to fend for itself. Many times a day we all would go outside to see how it was doing. The kids would water it with their mini watering can "just like daddy's", Bryce and I would water it once a day and make sure it was protected from the afternoon sun. We knew that its life in the pot would be limited, but if it survived in the garden it could go on living and growing for countless seasons.

The little gerbera did have a rough time, but all that breaking of roots has enabled it to start putting out its own roots. The change in environment will, in the end, be for its good, though I'm sure it doesnt feel like that at the moment.

"And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and have been called according to his purpose."Romans 8:28

You might have had a rough time lately, but know that you have not been left to fend for yourself (even though it might feel like it). You might be weak and unable to stand, but God is caring for you, protecting you and nourishing you so that you can fulfil a greater purpose.

God uses everything that happens in our life to bring about some good. Sometimes we see the fruit of others coming to know Him, sometimes we see the growth in ourselves, sometimes we see others blossom in the relationship and service with Him, other times the growth is under the surface and not for us to see. But God can and does use any situation to grow us, and bring glory to Him.

Whether you have just been replanted, are weathering a dry season or are standing tall, remember to drink deeply of His living water today.