Hope and Praise - Learned Through the Dandelions

Each year I ask the Lord to give me a word on which to think upon and use in my life for the year ahead. Last December as I was praying over the word from Him, it was not coming easily. Even with trying to find verses for my calendar for 2020, the ones He was giving me felt very disjointed and never flowing quite right. I kept praying that the lord would give me more clarity, but He chose to give me verses that were not showing a theme as I had wanted, but they were definitely showing His truths.

Finally, the Lord gave me the word I needed for this year and He gave it to me literally right before 2020 began. It is the word HOPE. I will be honest - I questioned it. I felt like that was such a common word we see all around us - like in home decor or our use of the word so casually. Little did I realize how much the Lord would use that word in my life and how it would deepen my understanding of it's true meaning as I have walked through this year.

January and February came and went with "ease" as we can look back on now. (haha)

As March came into play - the word "hope" became something on which I was to cling. When our world abruptly "stopped," my way to "escape" out of the quarantine was to walk - mostly up and down my driveway. I know many people had to find different ways to deal with the grief and sadness at being "yanked away" from socialization. Mine came from the walks. On these walks, the Lord began to teach me more about HOPE in Him and how to PRAISE Him even when I did not understand.

While walking, I began to see many dandelions. Most people hate a dandelion. They are seen as just a weed and are annoying to those trying to get rid of them.

I am not one of those people. I love them and find them captivating.

In my personal opinion, their beauty goes unnoticed. They bloom all around us, yet most walk by and do not take in the details of the magnificent creation that they really are. Over the course of this year, and with life being "put on hold" because of a pandemic, I was able to have time to easily view dandelions come up from the winter soil and begin their life in spring. I have always loved to capture them through my camera lens, but this year they seemed to be calling out for me to view them in a new light... Or maybe the Lord needed to remind me of His truth in something of His creation that I would be able to view in my own yard  since that is where I was confined for some time. So, I grabbed my camera and off I went....

I began looking at the yellow blooms dotting the newly-greening yard and sensing cheer in the midst of uncertainty. I began to see the white of the seeds blowing in the breeze and found myself drawn to them even more than previous years.

While I understand that not everyone feels the same about dandelions, we cannot deny some valuable facts about them:

They have deep root systems - they can grow from 10 to 15 feet deep.

Their greens are full of Vitamin A - which boosts immunity and helps with eyesight.

The entire plant can be used for human consumption with great benefits.

This little "weed" can grow 8-24 inches - and keep growing no matter what the conditions are around it.

Dandelions are actually a part of the daisy family. Yep....see...We love daisies so why not dandelions.

One dandelion flower is actually a combination of 300 flowers that at first look may appear to be petals. 

The seeds are pretty spectacular. Once the flower dries out, the petals fall off and the seeds appear.

The seeds are attached to light and airy "pappi" (the white fluffy part) which allow the seed to spread easily.

https://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/7-surprising-facts-dandelions/

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/how-does-a-dandelion-grow-13406401.html

Those dandelions showed me so much of what HOPE and PRAISE in the Lord requires. Much of it is based on that root system!

I must be rooted deeply in God's Word for my hope to remain steadfast and sure. If my time in God's Word is shallow, I will never see His HOPE and be able to praise Him through it all.

After being rooted in the Lord and His Word deeply, I can then grow in Him and be of benefit to others. My spiritual immune system can be stronger and my spiritual eyesight will be clear.

Because the Lord is my HOPE, I can still grow even when the "soil of life" is hard and dry. I can still be a bright influence in the lives of others.

I am not alone - just as the dandelion is part of the daisy family - I am a part of the Body of Christ. I can trust that I have my spiritual family around me.

I must die to my "own" hope - what I might think is best. I have to die to self so that my petals fall off and reveal new seeds which signal new growth that is only possible through the Lord.

Those new spiritual seeds are attached to my Abba "Pappi" so that as they "leave me," I am spreading the Lord's Truths and not my own. In this I am showing PRAISE to the Lord.

Once those seeds fall, they can begin the cycle again in another. That is what being a believer in Christ is all about.

This year has been hard.

It has looked hard for most of us in the same ways because of COVID - but then there are personal hardships each of us have walked through this year - some even that many are not aware.

Personally, my hope in the Lord is stronger because of the hardship. I will never look at a dandelion in the same way because of what the Lord showed me through them this year. I will never look at 2020 without the memory of this year, but at the same time, I will praise the Lord for what He has done in my life through all of the hardship. I think those two words - hope and praise - are needed much in our lives now. We must realize that our hope is in Christ alone and we must praise Him even when we do not understand - even when it is hard. That is why the verse the Lord actually gave me in 2019 for my "year word" of "praise" is so fitting for us now. He knew I would still need to cling to it in 2020. 

And cling I have.

Remember how I said above that the verses the Lord gave me for my calendar of 2020 were "disjointed" and did not follow a theme? Well, every verse for every month has been a truth from the Lord that I have needed at that time. It was His HOPE that kept me steadfast and secure when our world has not made sense around us. In that, I PRAISE Him.

Being Fed for the Journey Ahead

The Lord has shown me much over the last six months - and I have shared some of those moments in my previous blog posts. I have a feeling there will be more posts sharing what the Lord has taught me.

After ending the school year with distance learning, this summer was weird. (Well, what is new - for the most part, all of 2020 so far has been weird!) The summer was filled with a lot of uncertainty and I could not fully "relax" and plan for a new school year. 

The picture below was taken in winter. While I know I am discussing my summer, this whole season of COVID has felt like winter - in the middle of a desert. Bare branches, no color, bitterness, and food can be scarce. (...or toilet paper and cleaners....) Life still was not "normal."

One thing I always love about my summers is that I am able to study God's Word for longer periods of time. I am so grateful for what the Lord showed me during this wintry, dry-desert, wilderness of a summer.

I was reading in I Kings 19 about Elijah the prophet. In chapter 18, he had shown God's great power in the defeat of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. It has always intrigued me how in just the next chapter - chapter 19 - Elijah goes from the confident prophet of chapter 18 to the scared man running away from Queen Jezebel in chapter 19. She was angry over her prophets of Baal being defeated and killed at Mount Carmel and wanted to take Elijah's life. This no longer just dealt with defending the Lord. This involved Elijah's LIFE. Elijah was scared....Elijah was human.

As Elijah runs for his life and hides in the wilderness, the Lord takes care of him. See from these verses in I Kings 19:4-8

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 

And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 

And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 

And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

Elijah just wanted to run away and be done with life, but the Lord, in His wisdom, knew what Elijah needed more than Elijah thought. He was in the wilderness under a "broom tree." (A "broom tree" is a bush that gives just enough shade in the desert. It is not your huge shade tree in the backyard of a picturesque American-style home. It would not be my idea of rest and shade.) The Lord sent His angel to give Elijah rest and then to feed him. He knew what journey lay ahead for Elijah and wanted him to be fed and nourished in the best way for what he was being called to do.

That picture of a Elijah in the wilderness trying to find shade from a broom tree resembles this past summer for me. (....and maybe you, too....)  I wanted to run away from it all. My heart and soul felt like I was wandering in this strange desert and, while I had some rest, the summer was also one full of many "what ifs." Life felt so uncertain and, at times, dry, harsh, and bitter.

But in that wilderness under my own "broom tree" the Lord called me to Him through His Word. He called for me to "Arise and eat - for the journey is too great for you."  I was surrounded by fear everywhere I turned (news, social media, conversations) and I felt it closing in on me. I started to realize what I was feeding myself was not of the Lord and I needed to step away and stay close to God's Word.

After what is shown in the Scripture passage above, it then explains how Elijah goes on a long journey to Mount Horeb (also Mount Sinai .... where Moses received the 10 Commandments...). I found that intriguing. As you read on, you would see that is the famous passage where Elijah was in the cleft of the rock and the Lord asked Elijah why he was there. Elijah begins the complaining - the same thing I found myself doing with all of this mess of COVID. Then, the Lord told Elijah to go out and stand on the MOUNT before the Lord. The Lord allowed Elijah to realize He would not speak to him through loudness such as a strong wind, an earthquake, or fire. He would speak to Elijah through His still, small voice. The Lord told Elijah he needed to get back to work for there were still great things he must do for the Lord. 

The Lord showed me the same this summer. I would not find Him in the chaos around me. I would only find Him when I stopped the complaining, turned and came before Him, and allowed the still, small voice of His Word to feed me. In staying close to God's Word, I began to take note of different passages of Scripture He was showing me. Some were passages He had shown me before, but I now saw in a different light. Others were new revelations of His truths and I clung to them. I voraciously ate from the Bread of Life and deeply drank from the Living Water all summer. He alone restored my soul and strengthened/deepened my trust in Him. He was providing the nourishment I needed for the school-year-journey ahead. 

Those Scriptures the Lord showed me this summer I then made into picture verse cards. The Lord showed me I needed to surround my students and me with His TRUTH. I taped the verse cards on the walls all around my classroom (and in my home!) so I would still receive spiritual nourishment in the uncertainty of each day with every look around my classroom...and so would my students.  I knew the beginning of school was going to be like no other and I am fully seeing that now. Those verses and quotes have been continually feeding me - and my students - as we walk each day in this new journey. 

I cannot do it without the Lord. His Word provides me the strength I need to do what He has called me to do. He taught me so much this summer and I, in turn, am choosing to teach others. He has shown me there are still great things I must do for the Lord. The circumstances may seem out of control, but He is always in control.

I am so thankful to be back to work. God has already done great things in the four "unprecedented" weeks we have been back at school  - and I praise Him for what He will do as we continue to walk this journey ahead. 

If you are feeling as I was, I encourage you to do as the Lord showed me - be filled with the Bread of Life and drink deeply from the Living Water. It is the only way to be fed for the journey ahead.