Growing up in the south I was always surrounded by these overpowering aromas from the outdoors. My mother loved to dabble in growing plants and flowers. Everyone who knew her said she had a green thumb. I remember her favorite bloom being the beautiful "Snowball Bush". We also had honeysuckles, 4 o'clocks and of course roses. It always smelled so good in my mother's world.
Little did I know that this same love would be my passion as well. However, I find that in order for something to bloom much nurturing and tender loving care is required. That can be said of any living thing. Nothing can exist on its own. My garden of flowers must be fed, watered, pruned, and mulched. I had to learn about each plant in order to understand how to care for it. Now, they all bloom!
This is the same with our bodies. We cannot exist on our own, although we try. We need to be pruned, removing the bad so we can grow. We need water to nourish and purify our bodies. We need to be surrounded by something that nourishes and enriches our soul (Jesus), as mulch does for the plant. Lastly, we need to be fed. Here I am talking about food. We know that we can kill a bloom if we overwater or underfed the plant. This is also true with our bodies.
When I took into account all the yummy southern dishes I'd learn to prepare, all those hand-me-down recipes I was storing and habits that I did not know we're habits I began to realize I was not letting the flower bloom.🌷
I was choking it. Mind you I love my heritage, my southern roots and all the great recipes handed down. However, today I have come full circle. I BLOOM! 🌹
🙏Heavenly Father, I commit myself to you and your future, to treating food with care and respect, to avoid high processed foods, to invite others to share at my table, to pray for others, to remember that food is a gift from You, and that I may always be in Your grip.
-Amen-
