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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

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June 7, 2016

When it’s Not Time to Bloom

I was walking past my entry table for probably the hundredth time today when I noticed that all of the peonies in the bunch I had purchased at the store where opening at different rates.

entry table with french country decor

Some were all big and fluffy, in full bloom. While others were only half-way open.

Then there was this one, still closed tightly.

I studied it for awhile, wondering why it wasn’t opening at the same rate as the others.

peony

It reminded me of all of the quotes I’ve ever read about blooming and blossoming and how every one of them places emphasis on being open. There’s the suggestion that only when we are fully blooming will we have fully arrived.

And I realized that I don’t think I have ever read a quote about the beauty of the closed bud.

I think that’s such a shame.

Have you ever noticed on social media how often we are shown a dramatic ‘Before’ and ‘After’? The emphasis is always on how vastly someone improved on a room in their home or their haircut or their makeup technique. And yet, with so much focus on the ‘after’ perhaps we are missing out on the opportunity to see any of the beauty that was there in the ‘before’.

You see, I think that there is sweetness in that blossom that hasn’t opened yet, even when all of the others around it have. If you look closely you can see so many details and nuances. You can see colors in that bud that you no longer see once it’s fully opened.

peony blossom

That bloom is going at its own pace. It’s in no hurry to catch up to the others.

But we don’t do that, do we? We find ourselves looking around at all of those people who seem to be in full bloom in their lives, whose dreams are coming true or who seem to have it all together.

And we wonder why we aren’t blooming as quickly as they are.

But that little peony bloom in the pitcher on my entry table wasn’t wondering that. It wasn’t droopy or hanging its head in shame. It was strong and upright and holding its own among the other flowers.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

I love that in this verse there is emphasis on something being made beautiful in ‘its’ time. Not sooner, not later, just when it is the exact right time for whatever ‘it’ is to be made beautiful. In our humanness, we want to hurry this process along. The grandeur of those big, fluffy blooms can seem to outshine the ones that are still closed up.

But friends, we need to remember that there is so much beauty in the seasons of waiting.  Don’t wish this time away. Savor it, ponder it, rest in it. There is so much to be learned from the details and the nuances.

Can you trust that you will be fully open at the exact right moment for YOU?

It’s hard, I know. Believe me, I know.

But at this point in my life, I have experienced what happens when I wait to be made beautiful in MY time. Or, more accurately, being made beautiful in the Lord’s time.

And, I promise you that it’s worth the wait!

peony

Are you struggling with this at all right now in your life? Would you consider sharing some of your journey with me and the rest of the At the Picket Fence community?

It’s always nice to know that we aren’t alone in our journey.

I hope you know how blessed I feel that you decided to meet me at the Fence today,

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8 Comments Filed Under: Devotionals, Faith, Good Thoughts Tagged With: devotions, Faith, God

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Comments

  1. Michele Riggsbee says

    June 7, 2016 at 6:40 AM

    Thank you for this lovely reminder. I’m 53 years old and I am still trying to figure out what I want to be when I “grow up”. I need to remind myself that I am exactly where the Good Lord wants me to be. Thanks to your post, I now realize that it might not be my time to bloom and that I should just enjoy this very special place in time in my life. God is good and will allow me to bloom when he is ready. Thanks again!

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      June 7, 2016 at 7:56 AM

      Thank you Michele! I find it so hard to stop spinning my wheels trying to figure out what/who I’m supposed to be and instead just ‘be’…right where I am and right where God has me. Praying for you in this season of your life!

      Reply
  2. Lynn Czap says

    June 7, 2016 at 11:30 AM

    I’m not sure why, but the last three or four blog posts you have made I get an email like always, but when I click on the “read the whole post” nothing happens. I have tried to open it on my phone, ipad and computer, but no luck. In order to read it I have to log into the blog. Just wondering if there’s an issue on my end or yours. I do enjoy receiving your posts-they are always such an encouragement. I can very definitely relate to Michele’s post as well-thank you for your insight in this post.

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      June 7, 2016 at 3:19 PM

      Hi Lynn! Thank you SO much for letting me know about the email issue. We switched to a new provider and have had a few glitches. I will definitely be looking into that and really do appreciate you telling us. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Leslie says

    June 7, 2016 at 11:37 AM

    Beautiful. Thanks for sharing, Vanessa. So many seasons of waiting in my life…but wouldn’t have it any other way than His best.

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      June 9, 2016 at 6:44 AM

      Thank you Leslie! Praying for you in your seasons of waiting. <3

      Reply
  4. Rebecca Turner says

    June 9, 2016 at 5:43 AM

    I see that you haven’t received very many comments…but that doesn’t mean that you haven’t struck a cord. I saw this post the other day and it made tears come to my eyes. Reading it again, it brings the same reaction. I thought of answering, but wondered what to say, without saying too much. Life circumstances have thrust me into a role of support and care-giver for several sick family members with cancer, back-to-back. (Two passed, and one recovered.) Also, I have been a support for my daughter, and devoted to my grandchildren as their frequent caregiver/babysitter. These roles are not without huge blessings, but they do not satisfy my artistic appetite. Or provide a paycheck! Sometimes I feel permanently cast in the role of “Martha.” And yes, it does seem like all the other flowers are blooming bright around me. Thanks for your encouraging post!

    Reply
  5. Deborah says

    June 16, 2017 at 4:00 PM

    I love this article, and shared it. Sometimes we do feel we’re failing, and that our dreams will never arrive. But God has a purpose in all of it, good and bad. We are His continual work, He hand picked each one who knows Him to demonstrate His goodness and mercy. Even when we don’t see it ourselves, we shine as lights in a dark and fallen world. And we have our hope in Him.

    Reply

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Yesterday on the way home from school I had the ra Yesterday on the way home from school I had the radio tuned to my daughter's favorite station and a song that was playing had a line in it that really stood out to me. It made reference to a 'season of the sticks' which I think its safe to say must mean winter. I thought that was such an accurate, albeiet kind of depressing, picture of this time of the year.

While we definitely have more than our fair share of evergreen trees here in Oregon, we also have plenty of trees and bushes that are reduced to sticks during the cold months. But, this morning as I looked out my kitchen window, greedily sipping from my mug of coffee, I marveled at the beauty of the winter sunrise. The sky was all pinks and oranges with frost on the rooftops and a little bit of fog. And, I realized that part of why it was so amazing is because I could see it more clearly through the sticks. The bare branches allowed me a view that I wouldn't be able to see if those same branches were covered in leaves. Being stripped down to almost nothing revealed something magnificent.

We have seasons of the sticks in our lives too, don't we? Times when we feel as though we've been stripped bare and left exposed. It's easy to think that this is a place where all is ugly and dark. And yet, just like the winter sunrise was more visible because of the bare branches, the vulnerability we feel in the winter season of our souls allows us to get a glimpse of beauty that we wouldn't see otherwise. In the lush, warm seasons it's so easy to become comfortable. But in the bare, cold seasons we recognize just how much we need to rely on the One who placed the stars in the heavens and is sovereign over all.

If you feel like your soul has been stripped bare and you've been left exposed and vulnerable, may I encourage you today to ask the Lord to help you to see the beauty in this 'season of the sticks'.

“Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." Psalm 143:7
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And I’m choosing gratefulness. 

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Here’s to beginnings. Happy new year friends! May you experience the majesty and sovereignty of the Lord in 2023 like never before! ✨
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