Bloom and Grow

Sara Carle / Office Manager, Administrative Assistant to Congregational Care, Spiritual Formation, and Missions

“The dreams I dream for you, Are deeper than the ones you're clinging to, More precious than the finest things you knew, And truer than the treasures you pursue, Let the old dreams die, Like stars that fade from view, Then take the cup I offer, And drink deeply of, The dreams I dream for you.” - Avalon

Dreams I Dream For You

I will confess that I have been a little stressed lately because I’ve been asked to write this post. Having never written one before, I was not sure what to write about. So, I have been asking God what He would like me to tell you and then while I was in service last week, God showed me. It had been right in front of me the whole time. Literally.

You see, I have this Christmas cactus on my desk that a dear friend gave to me years ago. I’ll be honest, God did not bless me with a green thumb. Although, somehow, I have been able to keep this little plant alive for several years. This last year or two, something started happening to my cactus. Where the leaves are normally bright green, the ones in the center of my plant were starting to turn this brown/green color. I could not figure out why. I watered it more, but it didn’t get better. I watered it less, but it got worse. I moved it to a more lighted spot. No change. I moved it away from the window. Nothing happened. I did research to learn about my plant. I tried some more things. My frustration abounded. Have you ever felt that way? You try and try to make things happen and they just don’t turn out the way you had hoped or intended.

You see, at the same time as I was going through all of this with my cactus, something else was happening in my life. I had been working for the same company for a long time. I was unhappy at my job, overworked, overweight, and over-stressed. I had been praying for a long time for a change, but all roads out were blocked. So, I waited, thinking God must want me where I am right now. What I did not realize was that I was starting to look like my cactus. I was green and healthy on the outside, but I was slowly dying on the inside. I had been trying to wait patiently for God to say that it was time to move on. I had to keep reminding myself that I had to wait for God’s timing. When it was time, the doors would open. And then, they did. Through a series of circumstances, I was given the opportunity to choose between two very different job opportunities. I had a very big decision to make. While God had blessed my time at my previous job with friendships, opportunities, financial stability, etc. I felt that God was telling me it was time to move on.

During this time, I took my plant home. I lovingly removed it from the pot, I put new soil into the pot, replanted my cactus and then I began to prune off the dead leaves. Then I prayed, “Please God, don’t let my plant die. Make it grow again.”

I started my new job at the church in July, the same month that my cactus started to bloom again after two years of not blooming. As these last few months have gone by, I’m finding that God has been pruning me as well. Pruning off the stress, the long hours, the exhaustion, the walls that I had put up to survive, and one-by-one as those things fall off, I can feel myself starting to bloom again ... back into the person that I was created to be, that I want to be. I know now that all those years of waiting were God preparing me for what He had planned for me. While I may not know exactly what that plan looks like, I have learned to “Trust in His timing, Rely on His promises, Wait for His answers, Believe in His miracles, Rejoice in His goodness and Relax in His presence.”

I want to encourage you today, that if you feel lost or stuck where you are, to keep trusting in God’s perfect timing and will. I promise you the results are so much more rewarding than when we try to make things happen on our own.