“Mom, are you with Dad?” Pretty girl asks through the phone.
My momma’s heart stops for a moment. This could be really really good or something else. I motion to the Mr, put the phone on speaker and wait.
“I got my clinical site assignment and it is xxx,” she says.
My heart stops for a second time. It is not the site my heart wanted.
“So, which of your friends are going to xxx,” I ask while trying to keep my voice upbeat.
“None” she replies flatly.
We then transition into what moms and dads do best—we quoted scriptures, related stories of God’s faithfulness and turned into cheerleaders. We embraced this wholeheartedly. I made lists of who I knew in that area, started searching on Zillow for my child’s new nest and marked off dates on the calendar for the move.
Meanwhile, pretty girl was sinking.
“Why do I have to start all over? Again. It hurts so much to leave everyone. Maybe if I don’t care as much next time, it won’t hurt as bad.”
As her pain spilled over me, the words of Jeremiah 29 rushed in.
Here is the scene. Jerusalem is in a shambles (including the temple), decimated by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. 2 Kings 24 relates that the Babylonian army took everyone except the, “poorest people of the land” and forced them to move. Unwillingly. Into a land of strangers who destroyed the very thing they loved.
It would have been really easy to “call it in” or to sit there belligerently biding your time until you could leave. However, that is not what the Lord told them:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jer 29:4-7
Increase, do not decrease. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city. Pray for it. Plant gardens. Eat. Prosper. All of this in the place you do not want to be.
It is the OG bloom where you are planted.
I’m feeling a twinge in my side here. No, I’m not moving to a new place, but I can think of a few things that I am physically attending, but not giving my presence. I’m sitting in a meeting or going to an event just counting the minutes until it is over. I’m not really hearing what is said because I’m focused on something else. I’m definitely not blooming.
To bloom, a plant needs three things:
1. A steady flow of nutrients
Our daily nutrients come in the form of the Word of God, prayer or communion with God and even fellowship with others that speak Life over you. With our busy schedules, it’s easy for forgo one or more of these. You might not notice the difference after a day or two, but as the days turn into weeks, you might feel that there is more strife, frustration or anger in or around you. Healing time in the Son is essential for blooming.
2. Strength to Push Through Barriers
Before a bud can even form, the plant needs to send down roots. For a root to grow, it has to displace dirt, burrow through cracks in rocks or physically cause something to move. It is a deliberate, conscious effort to create roots. My little introverted self has the hardest time walking up to someone I don’t know and starting a conversation. That same self has a hard time even talking with people I DO know.
Some of you who know me may be shaking your head thinking I am being overly dramatic as you see me talking to anyone and everyone. Friends, this is not natural for me. I choose to do it (and have to give myself pep talks beforehand) as I remind myself that it is people over self. I love that which God loves. It’s a funny thing. The more your strengthen a muscle, the easier it is to move. Things that don’t come naturally, like looking people in the eye and talking to them, can become easy, even joy-filled with practice—especially when it is the heart of God.
So, in order to increase and not decrease, friends, we have to put our phones down and actually engage when we are physically around others.
3. Courage to Bloom
This is the hardest as it make you the most vulnerable. A bloom is a unique thing. It is displaying for others your true self. A non-blooming plant looks like all the others. It embraces the fear of rejection so it blends in, becoming invisible or indistinguishable. When we bloom, we share with others our inner self our thoughts, humor, affection and love. We, literally, open ourselves up. This is where true friendships can form and you can really help change the environment around you. You may be a double pirouette rose petunia in a sea of all white vinca or the reverse. Both are needed. The Lord and your community needs you. They need you to bloom.
If you are like me, you ADORE Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
But let’s not stop there.
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Jer 29:12-14
So, WHY did the Lord command his people to bloom where they were planted when He also promised them that He would restore them to their land?
Could it be because their investment in the community was laying the path for when King Cyrus would come and allow them the rebuild the temple, relying upon gifts from those around them and the wealth they had themselves accumulated?
Perhaps He was preparing them to rebuild the city walls with Nehemiah where they all needed specific skills and once again, resources? Credibly, He knows the human heart and the damage offenses and anger can wrought.
The reality is we don’t know. All we know is that He knows us, loves us and commands us to increase, not decrease. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city. Pray for it. Plant gardens. Eat. Prosper, if you want to be there or not. He calls us not to merely exist, but to bloom.
So, who is with me in choosing to absorb nutrients, send down roots and share the beauty within? Who has the courage to bloom?
