Tag Archives: spring

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

Rest Assured

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It’s the first day of spring.

It doesn’t look like it.
It doesn’t feel like it.
But it’s the truth.
And I believe it.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1

Recently I was with a friend who expressed a concern. She was worried about her faith. Did she have enough? What if she didn’t? How would she know? What would happen if she came up short? From her perspective, it didn’t look like she had enough faith. And it didn’t feel like it.

We talked it over and I reminded her that it doesn’t take much. God is happy to work with a tiny amount of faith, even as small as a mustard seed. (Matthew 17:20) She was quiet for a few moments, then said, “Well, then……..I guess I’m ok.” Yes, my dear, you are ok.

We all need a little reassurance from time to time.
We’re in good company.

When God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, Moses was a bundle of doubts and fears. “Who am I?” “What if…?” “Suppose…?” “Why? Why? Why?” He finished with, “Please send someone else.” (Exodus 3-5)

When God called Gideon to lead an army against his enemies, Gideon whined, “But, why…?” “But, how…?” “But…me?” Then he put God through a string of tests, just to be absolutely sure he heard from the Almighty correctly. (Judges 6)

Even John the Baptist had his doubts. John—who introduced Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) John—the one who witnessed a voice from heaven declaring, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:17) This same John sent a message to Jesus, “So, are you the one or should we look for someone else?” (Matt. 11:2)

These heroes of the faith needed assurance. They hadn’t gone off the rails or shipwrecked their long-held beliefs. They just needed to be reminded of truth they already knew down deep.

On those days when doubts and fears creep in,
turn to the Word of Truth.
And rest assured.

Today is the first day of spring.
It doesn’t look like it.
It doesn’t feel like it.
But it’s the truth.
And I believe it.