{"id":32094,"date":"2021-05-07T03:30:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T10:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=32094"},"modified":"2021-05-05T21:14:28","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T04:14:28","slug":"may-7-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2021\/05\/07\/may-7-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"May 7, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“The God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” <\/em>1 Peter 5:10<\/p>\n

Growing Anew<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Because I have been mostly alone here at home for the past 13 months during the pandemic, I tend to be very observant of everything around me.\u00a0One of the points of beauty that I love looking\u00a0at is our flowering bougainvillea plants.\u00a0They bloom all year long.\u00a0They are such cheerful, bright\u00a0spots!<\/p>\n

Two of the bougainvillea plants climb up along the wall of our deck.\u00a0I have to constantly keep them trimmed back or they spoil the lovely ocean view that we have.\u00a0That beautiful view of God’s creation ministers to my heart daily!\u00a0It has helped me through many bed-ridden days of chemo treatment.\u00a0It’s been such a gift to my soul.<\/p>\n

I’ve noticed in recent months that we no sooner trim the plants back than they start sprouting up again. This last time I noticed that they climbed “up to the sky” four to six inches in one day after being cut. It’s quite amazing! I’m attaching a photo that shows their long sprouts.<\/p>\n

I was sitting looking at them one day when I realized the spiritual lesson they show.\u00a0They get drastically cut off, chopped down…but then they turn around and grow anew.\u00a0Nothing stops them!\u00a0They reach for the sun and light as soon as they’ve been cut off.\u00a0And in the midst of all that, they blossom beautifully.<\/p>\n

As I was observing this, thinking about it\u2014I found myself spontaneously praying that no matter what gets “chopped off” in my life, no matter how much I’m “cut off”\u2014I want to pick up the pieces and keep growing, keep reaching out to the Son and the light of His goodness. I don’t want anything to keep me from growing.\u00a0And I pray I’ll be able to “blossom” in spite of whatever comes my way.<\/p>\n

I’ve been praying, as I do my deck walking, that I’ll be like the bougainvillea\u2014growing afresh whenever I’m chopped down!\u00a0It’s been a special lesson in God’s creation.<\/p>\n

“In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose<\/em>” Romans 8:28.<\/p>\n

Father, we are grateful for the wonderful lessons of spiritual life and growth that You have put into Your creation to show us how to walk with You!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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