The other day as I was walking our dog, I went passed a house that had lawn work done last fall when they had ripped up and removed the lawn, graded it, put in a stone wall and then put down sod.

As I strolled past, I noticed shoots of green- tulips were emerging through the sod. They were randomly placed and didn’t look like they had been planted anytime recently. I tried to recall what the front looked like before the project. I think there were small gardens where the plants were emerging. The tulips either were planted there before the new lawn was put in or a squirrel decided to bury some bulbs when the ground was disturbed and it was only dirt.

Either way, nature always amazes me in its resilience.

Bloom where one is planted they say.

Many people today are having trouble doing just that. There is much upheaval and uncertainty for many. I know folks who feel like those tulips- they used to be in a known area but then bull dozers and rakes removed their comfortable setting and were replaced with something different.

When things have been upended in our lives- loss of job, devastating health diagnosis, loss of a loved one, financial ruin- how do we go forward? Do we continue on and try to do what we are supposed to do? Do we find that which is holding us down is too hard to push away like the sod overtop of the bulbs?

Do we accept what has happened and look for new pathways to explore?

Over Lent, our church offered a Lenten series through the 24/7 Prayer organization (www.prayercourse.org) The website offers a study about unanswered prayer. Over a series of five weeks, we looked at the last few days of Jesus’ life and how Jesus experienced unanswered prayer. One of the examples they give is the kintsugi bowl- a bowl made by Japanese artisans that is intentionally cracked and repaired with gold. It is to represent resilience in the face of adversity and hardships.

When we feel that we are broken beyond repair, God shapes us into something beautiful, mending that which is cracked. But, as the video points out- God doesn’t heal our scars, no more than Jesus’ scars were removed on His resurrection. We bear our scars because God can make something beautiful out of our brokenness. I like to say that God is the ultimate recycle-er/re-purpose-er.

One of the speakers for the series has and continues to suffer with epilepsy. It was initially diagnosed after a brain tumor was discovered. She has lived with this debilitating condition for over twenty years. Yet, even as she has prayed for healing, she asks God for strength for each day. Her prayers are more short-lived- focusing on her day-to-day life. As she says, if she waited for complete healing (and she does still pray for that), she would be putting her life on hold.

Talk about blooming where one is planted.

What about you? Do you feel like your life is in pieces? Will you let the Master make something beautiful out of it? Are you willing to be “molded” into something different rather than be in a waiting mode?

Or perhaps you feel more like the tulips- trying to bloom regardless of the conditions?

Maybe our lives should be a little of both- continue blooming where we are until we are moved into a different, albeit better location. Either way, we are encouraged to trust in the One who has our best interest in mind, who loves us unconditionally and will make something beautiful out of our brokenness.