Know What She Needs

  Over the past few weeks I’ve been drawn to plants and flowers more than usual. I’ve purchased mint, oregano, and basil plants and have been using them to cook. It’s been quite fascinating actually. I’ve never been much of a domestic type. I would do good to cook dinner twice a week. But lately I’ve been in a nurturing mood, in a mood to connect with nature and it’s beauty and healing benefits more so in the process I also bought a beautiful lavender orchid plant with huge green rubbery leaves.

I preface this with I’ve never really been particularly successful in the past with live plants. I’m usually too busy and too preoccupied or traveling too much to consistantly remember to care for them like they needed. But something feels different this time.

I’ve already learned some lessons from the orchid. When I first got her (her-because she is lavender) I read the shallow card it came with about how much light and how often to water her. A few bullet points that I quickly skimmed and felt ready to mother it. Then I read at the bottom of the card for “advanced care and growing instructions” go to this particular website. I kept that in the back of my mind but nonetheless began to enjoy it’s beauty daily and nurture it with my existing knowledge gained from experience and the shallow card that occupanied her. I spoke to it, prayed for it, watered it, sat it in the light, wiped it’s leaves down for all of about 4 days. Then I noticed the top few buds beginning to droop a bit. I said to myself I’m attending to this thing this time. What’s the deal? I’m being deligent and consistant and extra.  So why the drooping?

I go back to the shallow card, reread it to make sure I didn’t miss anything obvious then I see for “advanced care and growing instructions” go here. I whip out my iPhone and go to the provided site. And there I found additional information. Here I learned that overwatering is the most common cause of death among lavender orchids and that in the winter, and it’s winter, you need to water even less. Oops!!

The constant watering -3 times a week was apparently too much for the winter. I abused the plant, unintentionally of course, but it left her three little top buds droopy. Those three top buds were not as full and vibrant as the bottom ones were. 

 In other seasons watering three times a week would have been fine; however,  in this season, her needs were different.

It took more than knowing what she needed. It took knowing what she needed.. In this season. It took research of her “advanced care and growing instructions”. Not just instructions to maintain her, but instructions for growing her. 

As I looked at the lavender orchid I began to see that although some buds had been abused by overwatering the buds furthest away from the overwatered soil were still vibrant and full of life! Thriving and beautiful. And in that moment a verse dropped into my spirit and encouraging words came to heart. 

I say this to someone reading this……your past has had some ups and downs.. You don’t have the life that ties up into a neat little bow. There may have been abuse or disappointments, some losses and seeming failures but just like the lavender orchid, you are getting ready to shed the old and droopy and your latter shall be greater! Your best is yet to come! Hang in there your nurturer is reading up on you. Acquiring advanced knowledge of what you need -in this season…and things are changing for you. Bank on it!

“The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.” Haggai 2:9

In Case of Emergency Call- 911

I want to tell you a story about a woman who had escaped a boarder line abusive relationship and she began to interact with the individual again. One night he wanted to talk to her and when she said it wasn’t a good time he began to try to forcefully change her mind by banging on the door and shouting. He began to ring the doorbell incessantly, bang on the door, enter the unlocked garage. Her “NO” wasn’t being respected. She thought he would go away after a couple minutes of realizing that she was not going to change her mind. She promised to talk with him the next day after the alcohol wore off his system. She never thought he would really hurt her.. seriously… but this night was different. She had never seen him this quite out of control for such a long period of time. Seconds passed then minutes and before she knew it almost a half an hour had passed. She was frightened for the first time and she began to cry and think of her options to stop the madness. She didn’t want to call the police because she felt like she could handle it on her own. She had always been able to handle things on her own. But obviously the situation had gotten out of control. She warned him that if he continued with this behavior she would call the police.

The woman, panting in fear, finally decided to anonymously call the police after what seemed like an eternity of negotiation with herself. She asked them to send an officer to patrol the neighborhood. After calling the authorities she again warned the drunken ex that the police were on the way and that he should leave the property before they arrived. He stayed, perhaps in disbelief.

When the authorities arrived and confronted him, he immediately left. Two patrol cars posted outside her home for hours. She felt safe again. They were sill there guarding her home by the time she finally calmed down enough to fall asleep.

How many times do we hesitate and delay and negotiate with ourselves when we are in trouble? Stumble around trying to figure out what to do. Lay afraid, feeling unsafe and vulnerable and unprotected? Always thinking we can take care of ourselves and at the same time feeling totally helpless.

At the moment the authority arrived, the threat vanished. I said at the very moment the authority arrived, the threat vanished. Again… At the moment the authority arrived the threat vanished. I want you to really let that sink in.

Why she waited so long to call is a mystery. Your guess is as good as mine. What would have happened if she had not called? I cringe to imagine and I am glad she finally decided to call for help when the situation got beyond her control.

So in the natural so in the spiritual. How many times do we struggle with things too much for us to bear on our own? God and the whole heavenly host is just a call away waiting to be asked to enter your situation and dismantle our threats. The sooner you call the sooner He shows up. Don’t hesitate. Open your mouth and invite your heavenly Father into your heart, into your situations and watch every enemy flee.

The Pain of Healing

A spiritual leader of mine once told me when I was going through a traumatic experience in my life to “just be broken & get it over with”.

I was hardening myself to soften the blow of the experience. Stuffing hurt & rejection down, ignoring it pretty much. Going through the business as usual routines with a mask, refusing to “FEEL” the pain.

Friends who knew what I was going through would often ask “how are you?” The kind of how are you that is really heart felt, not the kind one says as a cordiality. I would respond “great” and honestly I believed that. I felt strong because I was able to function regularly in a time of “crisis”. I didn’t take Time off work or fall apart under the pressure. I took pride in that. But God wanted me at a place humility, not pride.

I liken it to someone who is having an accident, like a leg amputation and adrenalin rushes to get them through the initial trauma. I was walking around in a state of constant shock. Numb, glazed over, seeming oblivious to what I had undergone.

Then months and months later it all hit me one day. “Moving forward” by Israel was playing on Pandora & something just “broke” inside me. I crumbled to the floor sobbing uncontrollably & immediately following that song “Closer” by Bethel came on and the verses ministered to my wounded soul. “I want to know your heart, I want to know your heart”…

It was like The Lord was speaking to me saying “now that you are broken.. I can heal you.” The potter wants a soft vessel to mold and shape. If you act like you are ok, there is no need for God. It is at the same place of brokenness where you also can become whole.

God wanted me at a place of complete dependence on Him. My failure to acknowledge I was hurting and needed healing delayed the process.

I heard a story once of a man who was injured by a boat. The propellor practically cut him to pieces. He said the healing process was more painful than the actual trauma. So too was this true in my case.

There is nothing glamorous about the healing process. The process is ugly, it hurts, it’s uncomfortable, you will have to do things you don’t want to do. So just accept it & get over it in the beginning. Resistance will only delay the healing process. Cooperate with your healing and it will go well with you.

To access the Healer, you must first recognize you are broken. So just be broken and get it over with!

Released……..For Blessings

Sometimes we are released FROM a relationship, a job, a ministry, and sometimes we are released TO minister, released to the Nations, to the people of God etc.

Pastor Steven Ferdickt of Elevation once said at every moment of our lives something is always dying and at the very same time something is being born.

When you are walking out of one place through a door you are also walking into a place.

Some of us need to release something(s), release some people… For the blessings to come. And some of us God is releasing from certain connections and we must GO no matter how badly we want to stay, no matter how comfortable it has gotten, no matter how comfortable the comfort zone is when God releases you… It’s for a blessing.

“For a seed to achieve it’s greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks it’s insides come out and everything changes. And to someone that doesn’t understand growth it would look like complete destruction.” Cynthia Octaviani

Like the baby bird being pushed out if the nest.
Because it’s Time to fly!
Let it go!
Let them go!
Be released into your purpose & for blessings!

And Moses Did Everything God Commanded…..

And Moses Did Everything God Commanded…..

What if that could be said of us? And ” your name” did everything God commanded? What an awesome testimony that would be. In Genesis 6 God gave instruction to Noah to deliver humanity from COMPLETE destruction. This was a huge task for any one person. He gave Noah the “What” to do, although Noah didn’t know the “How” to do it initially. It doesn’t mention Noah being a master ship builder, but how many know that God EQUIPS the called. He will give you everything you need to accomplish what he wants to accomplish through you. God sets you up for success!

God went into great detail about how to build the ship, in so much detail that I got a little bored reading about it. But Heavenly Father, Daddy, gave Noah the divine strategy for what he was calling Noah to do. He does the same for you. The Master of the Universe gives exact instructions on how to do His will, how to solve your problem, how to pray for your wayward child, how to walk in victory over circumstances, how to get healing from cancer, how to endure the loss of a loved one, and any other life challenge you can imagine. God is concerned about the details. The word says He knows how many stands of hair are on our heads. He offers for each of us to sit under his tutelage.

We need to be “tuned-in” to the voice of God to receive guidance. We cannot follow instructions if we do not know what they are. Hearing from God is essential to accomplishing our life’s work -your calling. Often times God calls us to do things that we are not capable of doing on our own. This ensures that it is He who gets ALL the glory and God will not share his glory with anyone. Ask Lucifer.

Every GREAT work first starts with faith and one simple step of obedience after another. A simple “YES” to God. And you can be counted in the number as one that did EVERYTHING God commanded. Will you do it?

All is NOT lost

A good friend sent me an article today and two things resonated with me…….

http://kontrary.com/2014/11/13/back-up-plan/

One thing that stood out was this sentence:

“The therapy patient had a plan (timing, route, clothes), and a back-up plan (what coat he would wear if it was raining, pills if the pain were too much). In other words, he had a plan for success, a plan for failure, and a plan for recovery.” (removing all excuses for NOT executing the plan/back-up plan) He planned to walk and meet his wife at the bus stop everyday during his physical recovery from a sickness or injury. We do tend to focus on success primarily, when adequate time and effort should be spent on mitigating the risks of failure, or knowing what we will do if we fail as well. (FMEA)

For instance this morning, I did not wake up at 5:30am like I had planned to pray &write, well I woke up but didn’t get up. However, I did get my prayer/meditation time in while I worked out on the elliptical. And I plan to write during my lunch break. Hopefully at the end of the day I can check off “wrote for 20 minutes”.

And the other good point was:

From the lawyer example- since I tend to be that “all or nothing” personality type; no middle, no medium, just two settings “High and OFF” -(also known as “EXTRA” or EXTREMEly passionate when focused- depending on how one chooses to view it lol) it helps to see things from the “all is NOT lost” perspective -if/when I fail to execute a plan flawlessly.