This year the camellia outside our bedroom window is lush with deep red blooms. In the fifteen years we have lived here, that bush has never bloomed so spectacularly. I think we had probably lived here for a good eight years before I even realized it was a camellia, and it has only been in the last few years that we have seen any blooms at all.
So what changed? Did the bush move? No, but the environment in which it exists did. We had a couple of trees removed which allowed more light to reach the bush, and I imagine that helped. But the biggest change was the introduction of chaos into the backyard; namely, two wild, playful puppies who ran around, kicked up dust and dirt and dug frantically all over. While we called their digging “troublesome” and “annoying”; to that camellia it was cultivating and renewing the soil in which it had been stuck. Without intending to, Charli and Moose stirred up the soil and invigorated that bush so that its roots felt fresh, received rain and sunlight, and reminded it what it was made for.
Now once I saw that the camellia had been awakened, I joined in purposely and began tending to that creation. I trimmed it back. I treated it for scale. I fertilized it. And now, three winters after we accidentally introduced chaos and pandemonium, that camellia is thriving and blooming.
I wonder if sometimes God doesn’t introduce some chaos into our lives to stir up our heart and soul and remind us of our purpose. I know that sometimes I feel stuck where I’m planted. Feeling like the light can’t reach me. Feeling stale and weighed down. Not blooming.
Chaos sounds crazy, scary, and negative so maybe there’s a better word. But I try to be thankful for the whirlwinds that spin into my life. I know that sometimes there may be pain and fear as life gets windy and blows us around. I just need to remember that the wind knows God’s name and it will calm down when He tells it to. For me, I try to keep my eyes and heart and soul on Him; keeping my eyes open so I don’t miss the majesty in the moment.
Sometimes I need to be stirred up to refresh my soul and be reminded that I was created to bloom.
Original Post January 5, 2020
Whatever is 