Driving and walking around the countryside at this time of the year is a delight. How I love to see all the new growth – bare trees turning green – buds bursting forth – blossoms appearing – flowers blooming.
What a picture – those daffodils edging the road – creating yellow carpets amongst the trees – reminding me of William Wordsworth’s poem.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
Such pictures do remain in our hearts and minds – yet – what of that lone bunch – or even lone flower that I come across as I walk on hidden pathways.
I’m so often astounded as to how they got there – their ‘blooming’ intrigues me – captivates me – causes me to pause – to admire – to take in the beauty that I may not have seen – had it been blooming amongst that ‘host ‘of flowers.
Such ‘lone’ flowers remind me of a book I read many years ago and which became very significant to me – (it’s the title of this blog) ‘Bloom Where You Are Planted’ – written by Carolyn Huffman.
She speaks of a time in her life when she was ‘uprooted’- from a place where she had lived for many years – and moved to another part of the country. She struggled so much – missing all she had left behind – then one day – she remembered seeing a poster in a bookshop depicting a lone flower and bearing the words ‘Bloom Where You Are Planted’.
Having acquired the poster she knew that it carried a strong and significant message for her. She hadn’t begun to ‘bloom’ at all in this new place she found herself in – and that was because she hadn’t even started to ‘put down roots’. This dramatically changed her way of thinking and she began to see this place – and the people around her – in a different light. She began to appreciate them and relate to them – she ‘put down roots’ – and – began to ‘bloom’
I can identify with her.
Many times in my life I have been ‘uprooted’ – left the loved and the familiar – and struggled to ‘put down my roots’ – in order to ‘bloom’ – but when I have done – the blooms have been beautiful!
For me the necessity and the blessing of those words ‘Bloom where you are planted’ have been a vital part of my life. Time and time again those words have come to me – and I’ve ‘unravelled my roots’ – ‘dug a hole’ – and – planted myself firmly – for my desire is always that I will ‘bloom’ – in order to share and show God’s love to others – wherever I may be.
Inspirational thoughts from everyday life 