SPRINGING INTO NEW LIFE

This is my first bloom of Spring. Lots of buds . . . but this is the first bloom. Knock Out Roses aren't the prettiest roses that ever bloomed but the sure do add nice color to the flower beds - and they're pretty easy to maintain. I'm a very novice gardener so "easy" is right up my alley.

Can we talk about Rose for a minute? I promise it's not gossip. Only few days ago Rose was a tight little bud - kinda green on the outside but with lots of promise for what she held on the inside. Then her true colors began to show - and they were lovely. She kept quietly growing little by little. In just a short time she began to open to the world around her. Then she began to fold back her outer petals, exposing her inner beauty. She'll continue to do that until she is fully spent and her petals fall back to the earth from whence she came.

Ahh, Rose. You are beautiful and fragrant. You grace my life. I am blessed in beholding you.

I want to be like Rose. How about you?

• I want to hold tight to God's promises like her little green bud.
• I want to bloom with promise for the difference God's Word makes inside of me.
• When my true colors show, I want them to be lovely.
• I want to keep growing in knowledge and relationship with the Lord - from glory to glory.
• I want to be open and transparent to the people God places in my life.
• I want the inner "beauty" I expose to be Christlike character.
• I want to offer the beauty and fragrance of Jesus to the world around me.
• I want to grace the lives of others.
• I want to BE a blessing.
• I want to pour out of my life what the Holy Spirit so bountifully pours in.

I am making everything new.
Revelation 21:5b (NIV)

Can I tell you a secret? Promise you won't tell Rose? I love her and I appreciate all she's had to say to me but Iris is still my favorite flower . . . and yesterday I counted over 20 buds on my Irises. Oh joy! New Life is springing up everywhere.

Thank You, precious Father, for the life that springs up fresh and new in my heart as Your Word takes root and bears it's "fruit."