Spring is unfolding all around me. There are hundreds of shades of green in the trees and grasses. The redbud trees pepper the landscape like pink peppercorns in an iron chef's kitchen! Daffodils crop up in unlikely places, and there are rumors of wild mushrooms being seen in the woods.
I traveled several hours yesterday, to make a prison visit with one of my parishioners. She is a woman of great faith, and the man we were going to see is "freer" behind bars than many of us are on the "outside". He had a true conversion experience sixteen years ago, laying on the cold floor of a holding cell. The church member I was with is the one who wouldn't give up on him, and his life has been transformed.
Not only that--- but he has witnessed to hundreds of inmates over the years and brought them to Christ. He has bloomed where he was planted... even in the dark and sinister prison world!
Blooming takes time-- God's time. God's plan. God's way. Yes, we do our part by asking: "What do you require of me today, Lord? How may I serve you to the glory of your name?" And then sometimes we must wait... and wait... and wait.
I'm in a waiting pattern this week. I attended my bariatric support group meeting Monday night and met a young woman who has a surgery date for early June. She has the same doctor that I do. So, now I must wrap my head around the truth that it may be JUNE before I have the procedure done. My first, very human reaction was to feel resentment. My second, take-a-breath response is... Okay, Lord. There is a reason for my wait. Show me what it is. Prepare me as you will.
In all fairness, I am still praying that I will find out SOMETHING in the next few days. I've been putting things on hold for a long time, and I need to know whether I am going to be able to attend the Annual Conference Gathering of the Indiana-Kentucky Conference. Will I be in church on Graduation Recognition Sunday? Do I get a vacation this summer, or is surgery going to be "it"?
I have to trust that God is preparing me to bloom where I am planted.
You, my friend, and your health are worth the wait. Perhaps this is your "bucket time" (think of Odo in Deep Space 9)
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