Growing

I find at times it is easy to see the journey of growing as messy. It is actually a beautiful time, or let's just say I've learned to finally see the beauty in growing. We've all heard the analogy of a blanket being made and from our view we see the knotted up ugly side of our lives but from God's view it is a beautiful masterpiece!

There have been many years of my life that I've seen every unpleasant experience as a shameful or disgraceful experience and often times wished those times away. I know that growing is not easy - when we see the beautiful sunflower in full bloom we never consider the days that turned into weeks that turned into months for that beautiful flower to grow from a hard seed into a beautiful flower with delicate petals.

At first the seed is pressed down into a dark, cold place - all alone. A place that seems a little scary even. And who knows the force or the breaking it must go through to then break out of the hard shell so that the roots can first grow downward. Without healthy roots the flower may not even break the ground above. The roots grow and the plant still is in a dark, cold place and all alone. It would be fruitless to dig up the seed after a few weeks to see why it was growing so slowly or see why it was growing down first or to see if it was growing at all. That would kill the process all together - so it takes patience and faith after planting to wait for something beautiful to come of the waiting on the unseen growth at work.

But then the first glimpse of light is there and although things may seem much brighter and better - there is still growing to be done. If the bloom would open now - the flower would rot and never become beautiful. So it is necessary for the flower to go through every stage of growth or it cannot become what it is called to be - a beautiful sunflower. Of course, I am not an expert on plant growth and who knows the many other analogies that could be made but the point being - growing is work. Growing is a process and it hurts at times but if you keep pressing onward, with hope and expectation, the journey can become fun - although still rigorous and draining.

Anytime I come to a place of understanding something new I go through the uncomfortable stages and then eventually begin to see the light of day. I don't remain in the dark cold place forever. It is just a part of the journey and I'm learning to even embrace that phase too. Why not? The better things are under the surface means the better things will be for the entire ride.

I'm reminded of a story I've read of a father sending his 4 sons out to see this one tree. Each son went alone and each son came back with a report of this tree. Each report was different because each son only saw the tree in a different season. The father told the kids "Just like that tree, we all go through seasons in our lives. The Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall seasons of our life are all moments we pass through. So don't judge a tree by the one season you see that tree in - there is so much more to the tree than what you see in that moment. So it is with each of us. We all have so much more to us than what is easily seen in a moment of life."

I do not remember the story verbatim but that is the gist. We can all choose to count someone out due to a moment we see them go through or take the time to know the whole of them. I've felt the nudge to share how God shows things to me and it has brought a few unexpected opinions but that is OK. God is still moving me forward to grow and be all that HE has called me to be. My responsibility is to honor that and I do not usually debate what God is showing me. I ask for wisdom and understanding so that I may grow and learn. I do not have all the right answers or perspectives - God uses incidents to show me truth. That doesn't mean there are not many sides to that truth but if He hones in on one area for me to see - I've come to realize that I need to see that. Not that I discount the whole picture but I look deeply into that 1 spot that maybe I've not fully seen well before. That is how He stirs me. Not so that I am only left with one view of the issue shared, but that my whole view is more in line with what it should be and not out of balance. So the 1 thing is not the whole thing. It is one spot on the Dalmatian - it is a single area of clarity that assists in the whole being better.