Being PLANTED and REPLANTED

My words of the day are:
PLANT -- sow, seed, place or fix into a specified position
REPLANT: To plant again in a new place

Seven years ago, this Peace Lily PLANT was given to our family for my husband’s memorial service. What a beautiful representation of “peace” that was given to us. And peace is what God gave us. I REPLANTED that PLANT into a larger pot, but it seems I need to go bigger as it’s been struggling some in the last couple of months. Quite frankly, it’s a miracle that plant is still alive at all, given my record of being “green thumbless”!!

Besides a plant being planted, PLANTED also means being stuck, fixed and unmovable. I've proven that is not me. I've found that REPLANTED can be a very thing. It’s over a year since my home in Tulsa sold (without me even trying to sell it). I knew God was setting me up to be REPLANTED in Texas near my children. I’ll admit there have been many times of discomfort during the process of the move – finding the exact “pot”, rather "home", to be REPLANTED into and getting use to all the changes in my life here in Frisco. In the directions for replanting and repotting a Peace Lilly, it says: “Don’t worry if the plant looks a little bedraggled for the first few days after replanting because slight wilting often occurs. Give the plant time to settle into its new home.” And, God was saying to me “Trust me and my timing. You may feel a little bedraggled, but you’ll see “I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans to prosper you and not harm you, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

REPLANTING me from my familiar surroundings, my family and friends, my home and church in Tulsa was oftentimes bittersweet though the sweetest part is living closer to my children. Of vital importance was to find a church to call "home" here in Frisco. Oh I know that God is with me anywhere and everywhere, but having that “family” and “community” connection has been a mainstay since I made my debut on Planet Earth. Church has been where I met God, personally, and where I found friendship and fellowship and solace during challenging times and where I found my greatest expression of worship and praise to my God.

My search for that church “pot” to be replanted in took months because I was looking for “a feeling” of home like my wonderful home church in Tulsa – smaller where you get to know everyone and everyone knows your name. That just reminded me of the CHEERS theme song. LOL! Then it occurred to me “Select one then, dive in. Get involved. If you want friends, show yourself friendly.” I did. A 39,000+ member church. WHAT??? How can I experience “family” in a church that large. “That POT is just too big to be REPLANTED in” is what I thought.

I found and signed a contract on my home on February 21, 2017 – one year ago, I settled on my new church, St. Francis of Assisi in July – seven months ago. This post was inspired by my being a Greeter/Welcomer at my church this week when we were having a 3-day Lenten Mission. As people came in the door, many said “Hi, Donna!” and hugged me or I would recognize them and welcomed them to the service. Other greeters with me who had been part of the church for years said “Donna, you sure know a lot of people for being here such a short period of time!” When they said that, I had an “aha” moment. God’s words to me had come to pass. You see I did get involved. I became a sponsor to a young woman in our church’s discipleship program (RCIA), I became a greeter, I attended a women’s ACTS Retreat and met 80 women who will be lifelong friends to me and now I’m serving on the Spring ACTS Retreat Team. I am a Eucharistic Minister, serving communion, and attend Bible Studies. I have a church community and family that I love now.

Yesterday morning the inspiration for this post came to me and I looked up on my wall across from my bed and read the words from the Bible and penned by my daughter, “Oh Lord, bless me indeed and ENLARGE MY TERRITORY (He sure did!). Let your hand be with me and keep me from evil so I will be free from pain.” 1 Chronicles 4:10.

Yes, big changes in our lives can oftentimes be uncomfortable and downright painful, but when we realize that our times of REPLANTING and REPOTTING are the ways to stretch us to take us to the next level of maturity and growth. Maybe you’re being stretched today. Maybe your “pot” is too small to hold the expectations that God has for you and you need to be REPLANTED. Trust Him and do your part to open up to new horizons, new opportunities and new friends that God wants you to love, encourage and support.

What is Your Life Echoing Today?

What is your life echoing today?

In other words, what is your life reaping?

I learned this lesson well. I remember when I would wake in a grumpy mood and everyone in the house could feel it. Before long......they would chime in, and they'd be grumpy, too! We, literally, can set the tone and the atmosphere of our day by what we send out. Happy Mama = happy family. Grumpy Mama = grumpy family.

God's laws of reciprocity have never changed. "We do reap what we sow." Galatians 6:7. And, we know the repercussions of positve AND negative sowing. But to have the harvest we sincerely desire, let's make sure our "planting" produces a crop of blessings! And, let's make sure our ECHO resounds with all those things we want back!

If we plant honesty, we'll reap trust.
If we plant friendship, we'll reap friends.
If we plant humility, we'll reap greatness.
If we plant love, we'll reap love.
If we plant hard work, we'll reap success.
If we plant forgiveness, we'll reap reconciliation.
If we plant faith in God, we'll reap a harvest of blessings.
So let's do a check-up -- from the neck-up -- and let's turn our day into blessings!

What Grows in Your Garden?

I saw a friend’s post a couple of days ago where she was asking for advice for getting rid of weeds in her garden. Comments to her post included: “Put newspaper around the plant – it will suffocate the weeds”; “Put grass clippings around the plant”; and I loved this one “Don’t plant a garden!” LOL!

That made me think about the weeds that may have grown in our heart’s garden – weeds of selfishness, pride, self-centeredness, laziness, bitterness, anger, envy, etc. Here's my advice: 1) First, cultivate the soil and add in a get mixture of fertilizer (prayer) ; 2) Plant the seeds of God’s Word (Bible reading and meditation); 3) Give the plants plenty of sunshine (speaking the light of God’s Word over the situations that may be troubling or concerning us); 4) Give the plants plenty of water (thanking, praising, trusting in God’s goodness and mercy to complete what He started, Proverbs 3:4,5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths."

Then, get ready for an abundant harvest of sweet and beautiful fruit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.......” Galatians 5:22,23

St. Paul said it perfectly in I Corinthians 3:6,7 – once we plant the seed…..God will make it grow! "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." God is the Master Gardener, and what He plants, always yields a great harvest!