Bloom Where You Are Planted

When I was growing up in a small town in the Midwest, we knew everyone in our neighborhood.

The Klobuchars lived next door. They were an elderly couple and they kept their yard in perfect shape. Next door to them were the Senichs who had five children, one of whom died, and the youngest was my age. Next to them were the Toivolas who only had one son a year younger than me. Across the street from us were the Nettles. They had five kids who were similar in age to my siblings and I. To the left of them were the Andersons. They both drove motorcycles and had adopted two kids near my age. To the right of the Nettles were the Brauns. They had two boys who were older, including one who still lived at home and was diabetic. The ambulance frequently came to their home and they did not associate much with the neighbors.

I could go on and on, identifying each neighbor by name and unique characteristics.

The point is, I knew my neighbors and they knew my family.

This morning I went for a walk and, as I was walking, an elderly neighbor came out to retrieve her paper from her driveway. I said, “Good morning,” and we both commented on the beauty of the day. As I walked away, I thought about the fact that I had never seen her before. She had a beautiful accent and I wondered what her story was. I had no idea.

As I walked further and passed a few more houses, it occurred to me that I did not know many of the people in my neighborhood.

Bloom Where You're Planted

I wondered to myself why I knew everyone in my neighborhood all those years ago, yet lived there for fewer years than I have lived in my present neighborhood.

I recently had a conversation with my younger sister about the charge my mother gave us before she died. She told us to “grow where we are planted.” I have strived to do that these past 24 years since my mother left this earth to go to her heavenly home. In talking with my sister, she said that her goal was to “bloom where she is planted.” I thought about what she said and how changing that one little word from grow to bloom could drastically alter my life.

I looked back on the past years and realized that I had been striving to grow. I was trying to water and tend my own garden of life just to stay alive. But my sister, on the other hand, was blooming and thriving where she was at.

I thought about our lives and carefully weighed the differences. My sister loves well. She lives in the moment and not in the past. She does not dwell on what might have been or what could be. She loves her elderly neighbor through a pot of soup or a ride to the mall. She loves her single friend’s teenage daughter with late-night talks and girls’ weekends out. She loves the grouchy man at the grocery store with treats from her garden. She loves the shy new mom with gently used clothes. She loves everyone. And she’s truly blooming and thriving in her life today.

I, on the other hand, miss her terribly and have focused on getting through the days until I could be with those I loved the most and felt the most comfortable with. I have not loved the people God had chosen to put in my life the way He wanted me to. It wasn’t that I was unkind, it was just that I was not loving with my whole heart. I’ve had one foot out the door, waiting for the next time I could be with the people I chose to love the most.

At church, I’ve been friendly enough but I didn’t go out of my way to befriend people who I did not think I had a lot in common with. I didn’t take the time to get to know them and to hear their hearts.

In my neighborhood, when we first moved in, we hosted open houses near Christmas and birthday parties for Jesus with the neighborhood kids. But, in recent years, life got busy and getting to know neighbors and sharing Christ with them was something that was no longer a priority.

I have set a goal for myself this year to bloom where I am planted.

And for me, that means loving whoever God places in my life with His love that flows through me. In my own ability, I pre-judge people and put them in little boxes. I miss their heart. With the Holy Spirit’s help, I can truly love people. I am also trusting God that He has me in this exact place for a purpose and if I am lamenting about wanting to be someplace else, I will miss all He has for me here.

Each of us has a call on our lives. And God does not just have a plan for each one of us, He has a perfect plan. We may not be where we thought we should or would be, with the people we thought we should or could be with, or in the situations we thought we should, could, or would someday be in, but if we call Jesus our Lord and Savior then we need to trust that He has us right where He needs and wants us.

We need to bloom wherever He plants us.

Go out today and bless someone in the name of the Lord. Meet a neighbor. Greet a stranger. Bless a soul.

Grow…bloom…love…really live.

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