Blooms and Beauty in the Broken

Anyone who knows me, knows that I enjoy flowers. This last weekend, I went to a wedding that Audra Elizabeth directed. The lovely bride was one of the first friends my darlin’ oldest made when we moved to Tennessee. It was a beautiful wedding. The bride, groom, wedding party, parents all arrayed in their finery, the ceremony, the ring bearer, the program, the grandfather participating in the ceremony… And the flowers the bride and bridesmaids bouquets were made of were long stemmed, white hydrangeas. They were absolutely gorgeous. And I shared my compliments of the flowers with my friend Kim, the bride’s mother. And she asked me if I wanted some… I ended up with three Lowe’s 5 gallon buckets of gorgeous white hydrangeas at my house! I felt as if I were in a flower shop. I quickly arranged three large vases and placed them in the kitchen, living room and bedroom for enjoyment.

 Then I texted friends that I had a small flower shop at my home and wanted to share with them and then the fun began as friends stopped by to visit and take the flowers home. It was so enjoyable!  I have enjoyed the arrangements and the flowers going on five days now…

I’m so thankful for Kim’s willingness to share the hydrangeas with me.  The bouquets are beautiful. The blooms just glorious to me; but it was when I went outside and saw this gardenia plant in my own little garden, that I heard The LORD speak to my spirit and say:

“You can still bloom when you feel broken…”

As I looked at the scraggly plant, that obviously was stepped on at some point in its early years, and wondered why I had not removed it from the garden.  I have two other gardenia plants that are flourishing and make this one look sparse.  But the contrast was there: this plant was blooming, though broken.

Not every day do I attend a wedding. Not every day is there a big, beautiful, and showy bloom in a glorious arrangement. Truth is, many days, I feel like this broken gardenia plant. But what a beautiful truth:

“You can still bloom when you feel broken…”

Do you feel broken today? Do you feel like the realities of life have stepped on you? So many days, it is easier to focus on the brokenness, to get caught up in a harsh reality; but GOD calls us to hard situations sometimes. He calls us to suffering. He calls us to exactly where HE has planted us.  He is with us. Hallelujah.  HIS son-light shines on us, on our brokenness, on our hurts, on our disappointments.  Dear friend, I encourage you that:

“You can still bloom when you feel broken…”

May in each hardship and trial,
You search for the good and smile.
May you bloom,
Not retreat to a tomb;
But bloom.
May your roots go deep
And in your sorrow, not sleep.
Bloom, dear broken plant,
Let The LORD, tend and enchant.
Bloom when you feel broken.
Amen.