Tag Archives: flowers

Join the Conversation

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“God spoke today in flowers,
and I, who was waiting on words,
almost missed the conversation.”
~ Ingrid Goff-Maidoff ~

I spend a lot of time waiting on words.
Hours have been spent staring at a blank screen—
hoping letters will drift down and come together in words,
praying the words will join up into concise sentences,
trusting the sentences will band together into sensible paragraphs.

If I stay close enough to the Author of Life,
I figure I stand a chance at catching a few meaningful words.

On my “About Dinah” page I wrote: “Writing has always been my pathway to finding the truth in both my heart and God’s heart. Words swirl in and out of my life in many ways. I like to read them, write them, sing them and put them into crossword puzzles.”

That’s as true now as it was in 2010. (16 years ago?!) 

But lately, I’ve been awakened to another way of capturing truth, beauty and goodness. It seems the Author is also a Gardener.

Charles Spurgeon said that the created world is God’s “outward temple” and that nature is “the second Bible.”

David wrote psalms about stars and skies, the sun and moon, oceans and trees.

Jesus taught that there is much to learn when we are attentive to nature. He suggested that a meditative look at a wild flower could help us become less anxious. (Matthew 6:28-29)

“All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.” *

Here I’ve been, waiting on words,
and in the meantime,
I’ve been missing out on the language of
lilies, oak trees and the Milky Way.

May this be the summer of listening for the music
and joining the conversation.

* “This Is My Father’s World,” Maltbie D. Babcock, 1901

My Bleeding Heart

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Feast your eyes on these beauties.

Bleeding hearts are my favorite spring flower.

“They bloom like a love letter in spring, then quietly rest.
And every year, they come back with the same soft drama.”*

“Bleeding Heart” sounds ominous, though, doesn’t it?
Less like a love letter, more like a serious condition.
Less like soft drama, more like E.R. trauma.

Despite the dire-sounding name, there are some delightful lessons here.

  • Do you see those delicate blooms hanging onto the small branch? Cling to the Source of Life if you want to produce beauty.
  • Do you notice how the blossoms come in clusters? Don’t go rouge and isolate. Gather with your people regularly.
  • Do you know that these are the first to flower in the spring? Go ahead and flourish, even if the conditions are cold and harsh and you are the only one.
  • Do you observe how the dark green leaves set off the pop of pink? Be the background support that lets others stand out.
  • Do you realize this is a plant that comes back year after year? Keep showing up, day after day, month after month, year after year.

Consider the lilies, how they grow:
they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you,
even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these.
Luke 12:27


*Heidi from gracerosefarm.com