Something I Read

"We, you see, are terribly prone to settle for less than what God desires for us. We are glad enough for God to remove an irritating behavior from our personality (a sour disposition, for example), or a destructive addiction (like alcholism), but it is a very different thing for Him to begin restructuring our inner affections. We may be willing to give up honors and possessions and even friends, but it touches us too closely to disown ourselves. And yet we simply must understand that God is seeking not to improve us but to transform us. C. S. Lewis writes, 'The goal towards which [God] is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the whole universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal.'"

Streams of Living Water
Richard J. Foster
page 85

GREAT Book - Highly recommended to me -- I pass it on to you

My thoughts -- "settling for less than God has in mind"
-- "improve" vs. "transform"
-- I am the only one that stands in the way of God's work in my life

Stopping to smell the lilies

I enjoy sitting in the alley amidst the flowers...there's something about them that is
relaxing, natural, beautiful...

This year I have added new plants...Easter lilies salvaged from a garbage heap -

last year they died and withered away and I decided it was a lost cause.
However, this year 4 lilies appeared and to my amazement two of them actually bloomed!
They are/were beautiful!! I do believe if the back three had more sunlight they would have done as well as the first plant.
Apparently "Easter Lilies" are supposed to bloom in June, not March or April and they need sun.
My second plant below is a poinsetta. It had lost all but a few of its leaves and looked horrible.
I was about to trash it but decided to do an experiment just to see what would happen if I would water it. I stuck it in a corner of the kitchen and gave it some water. To my amazement, the perceived dead plant had life! It began to bring out new leaves...I kept watering and discovered it liked indirect light better than full sun...I kept watering...
Now it sits outside...a constant reminder to me to keep praying for those requests that I sometimes view as hopeless or dead...somewhere deep inside there is potential and life...there is beauty, there is hope...

There's many more spiritual applications in my lilies and poinsetta -- I'll let you think about them.