I live in the country. Like… The country. Let’s just say that overalls are normal here (no, I don’t own any- I’ve always had a splash of Hollywood in my veins😊) and we may or may not have some people in our county that use old comodes (aka toilets for the northern folks!) in the front yard with their house number proudly displayed on it.

It always makes me smile and shake my head just slightly in bemusement when I drive by but hey, if you’re ever in a pinch… 😂

I love the country- in fact, I am currently on my porch swing enjoying the rain. That was one of the things my dad and I had in common- we both liked sitting on the porch and listening to the rain. 💜

I also love being in nature and I try to make it an everyday practice that the kids and I go for a walk around our family mountain for outdoor time and physical health.

Something that has really been sticking out to me this past month on our walks is how many of our trees are almost completely snapped in half due to the strong winds- and yet there are beautiful flowers blooming on the broken side- and ONLY THE BROKEN SIDE! Rather astonishing, I think.

After our walk today, I grabbed my phone and headed back down to get a pic of a tree that has been on my mind. When I got to it,  it began to pour down rain but I did the best I could in the few seconds I had 🙂

There’s a life lesson in this. A MAJOR one. Have you figured it out yet?

Think about it. A tree limb. Snapped in half. Hanging by a literal thread of wood. But there it is, blooming and producing beautiful flowers. Meanwhile on the other side, the unbroken side, there is just branch- no new growth, no flowers. Is anyone picking up on this? Get my drift?

No matter what image people try to portray, I can tell you as one who studies the mind (and lives in one!) That no one has their life perfectly together- and that’s good- and normal! Because if we did have everything ‘perfect’, there would be no growth. It is the adversity, the suffering, the literal snapping in half of our lives where we are left hanging on my a mere thread that the growth happens. Because it is in those moments that we can either fall over, play possom and call it a day, or we can use these challenges to make something new and wonderful, overcoming the odds and choosing life over despair- no matter how dire the situation. Wow. Those are some big words. Some tough words. I am almost cringing as they come to me to write down. Because what I’m writing, what I’m suggesting, is hard. Hard. Hard.

But it’s worth it; to throw in the towel on the things in our lives that we think are broken and don’t have a chance is to deny our God-given capabilites, strength and resilence. No, we can’t undo a shattered tree limb. But God can. And sometimes it may be His plan to fix your situation for you and make things comfortable again for you. And other times, most of the time I think, He see our brokenness. He sees our tears, our torn limb and the mess we find ourselves in. And instead of turning away and ignoring our pitiful state of need and despair, He comes along side us and helps us grow beautiful flowers. He helps us bloom in the midst of our pain – maybe even because of it. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted (the broken limbed) and if you are willing to let Him, He will help you turn that obstacle, that stressor, that suffering into something beautiful. Something that can not only help you and your branch, but also inspire all who walk by, seeing your glorious flowers and thinking, how did THAT happen? ….I thought she was just a broken limb.

💜 Bobbie-jo