relationships are like plants.

The last couple of years {when we were finally in a house instead of an apartment/townhome}, I found a new love.  Gardening.  I love planting flowers and making a seemingly dead and barren space more beautiful and pleasing to look at.  The way the green and color mix together to create beautiful landscaping just makes me all giddy inside!  And this year, we now have a vegetable garden of our own!  The satisfaction that comes from growing your own food is priceless. What is even more exciting is I have had these plants for nearly a month and they are all still alive!  Sadly, between rabbits, deer, and the cat we formally owned, the last 3 years have resulted in dead, eaten, and up-rooted veggie plants, so you can see why that would thrill me.

Well, in the last week or so, God has really brought the picture of plants to the forefront of my mind and how they can relate to relationships.  I know this is not a new concept.  Plants are written about several times in the Bible {Luke 8:1-15: parable of the sower, John 15:1-17: the vine and branches, just a few examples}.  But have you ever thought about the different types of plants as examples of the depth of our relationships, or specifically our relationship with Christ?

I was awoken with these thoughts sometime last week.

Am I just an pretty annual, that blooms beautifully in the spring and summer?  Do I not grow very big, and my roots are never too deep in the soil?  Then do I just wither, fade, and die at the first sign of harsh weather?

Or am I like a tomato plant?  I produce fruit when times are good but as soon as it gets cold or there is a drought I no longer am able to to anything, but rather I just stop.

Am I a small shrub that seems satisfied with growing just a little and getting my roots just a bit farther in the ground?  I will survive winter or a mild drought but really, I am just happy being small in stature, never really reaching new heights or striving to grow towards heaven.

I'd love to say that I am like a great oak tree.  My roots are deep and strong.  I am not easily blown over or stepped on.  For many years I have grown taller and stronger, always pointing up to heaven and can be seen from afar.

These word pictures have really challenged me to examine where am I in Christ, if I have just become satisfied with my relationship with Him, and if I have lost the desire to go deeper.  Have I become 'ok' with a shallow, only on the surface type of relationship or am I challenged and stretched to grow deeper in His word  and stronger in Him?

Even yesterday when I sat down outside for my alone time with Him, He reminded me of this.  Here is a bit of what I wrote:

Lord, thank you for providing Alan's job!  My heart is overflowing with thanks because of Your faithfulness.  It is because of his job that he was able to have a three day weekend with us and it has sure been relaxing.  And today the weather is perfect!  Thank you.


It in these seasons of life that I know {and want} to deepen my roots in You even more so when the storms of like come, I am secure in You.

"With my roots deep in You, 

I'll grown the branch that bears the fruit.

And though I'm small I'll still be standing in the storm

'Cause I am planted by the river

by Your streams of living water.

And I'll grown up strong and beautiful,

all for your splendor, Lord"

{For Your Splendor by Christy Nockels}

Had my Bible opened to Colossians to show Alan the scripture I'd like to have read for Lilly's dedication and I glanced over to chapter 2 and above the verses was the title 'Spiritual Fullness in Christ' so I began to read.  Verse 6 & 7 say "...continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and over flowing with thankfulness."

Well, needless to say, I was blown away at how God met me right there and it seriously felt like such a big hug!  All this has been on my mind so much lately that I felt pressed to share with you.  I really thought I was supposed to get a post typed up and published last week but it never seemed to come out right and now I know.  God was not finished with this yet.  

I want to be challenged by Him daily and I want to seek to grow stronger in Him by reading His words to me.  I want to be able to hold on tight to Him when the storms come, because storms will come {it is certainly not a matter of if but when}.  

So, friend, I pray that you will stop and think about your own relationship with Christ.  

It's never to late to let Him plant and grown a new seed in you!

It's never to late to put down roots in His word and grow strong in Him!

It's never to late to seek Him and find Him!  He is always there!

Here is a song that has been in my head for the better part of a week and also the song in which I wrote the chorus in my journal yesterday.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

forever His,

marcey ♥