Blooming Out of Season

I went on a short walk with my dog today, and noticed that all the flowering plants were blooming. It's barely February. It is winter. It is defiantly NOT time for flowers to be blooming. Blooming they are,though- and with gusto. It of course got me thinking. A common phrase I have heard in Christian circles is "bloom where you are planted". When I got this lesson, I didn't appreciate it because I was not happy where I was, nor accepting that it was where I had to be. Fast forward 17 years. I'm still here. I am not flourishing, but I am also trying to do my best to accept the fact that I live somewhere I don't want to. Here comes the next kicker...sometimes you gotta bloom out of season. When you remarry, you put the cart before the horse. The bloom of first marriage has long since faded, or been trampled on. The newness of a baby gets replaced by the reality of grown kids. Instead of spring, welcome to late summer. Or even fall. We come into a new marriage full of hope and love and rainbows and unicorns. Then the scalding barrenness of summer fries us around the edges a bit. It's a lot harder to be dropped into the middle of a hot summer when you want to enjoy the tender beauty of spring. It's a lot to deal with - kids who are not happy to be a part of a family they didn't ask for. Shifting orders of priority and birth order in the new family. The divorced parent being out of the picture, or constantly muddying the waters. Sometimes it's all you can do to survive the early years of remarriage. It's a time where you have to make sure you feed yourself and each other the Word, when you have to concentrate on being stable and letting roots grow. Sometimes, though, you need to bloom out of season. It's that extra effort. It's reaching down deep, finding that kernel of hope, and forcing the bloom. It's choosing to take a chance on being that vulnerability out in you, even if it's cold outside. Because blooming out of season brings fresh hope. It reminds us that spring is still there. It brings a smile to our face as we behold the beauty of our Creator, and what we are capable of. So go ahead. Take that tired, dormant heart and hand it over to God. Let Him shine His light of love and hope on it. And bloom, baby! LS