In Full Bloom

This video above seems for me to visually represent what happens to your heart as you prepare to receive the Holy Spirit. Just as the petals of this flower open and unfurl so does one’s heart as we anticipate Pentecost.

Now is the time for the Holy Spirit to blossom in us and through us.

If I do not open my heart to let the Holy Spirit bring forth God’s gifts within me I have wasted some of God’s brilliance and beauty. How ungrateful would that be… to waste the opportunity to bring forth the beauty of God.

Pentecost is about God’s brilliance; about his beauty being realized through each one of us. We are His Beloved Creations and Pentecost is about living up to that reality “in full bloom”.

I have had some time during my recovery from surgery to think about the approaching feast of Pentecost. I want to be ready for Pentecost ready for the Holy Spirit to burst forth…ready to reveal God’s lavishness.

The beauty in these flowers is nothing compared to the beauty the gifts of the Holy Spirit can reveal in each of us. Each and every petal layered together…a thing of incredible beauty.

Now imagine for a moment the beauty you have inside with all the petals of the gifts of the Spirit. The petals of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord known now as Wonder and Awe.

As you watch this next video relish the beauty of each flower as they unfold before your eyes in a fleeting time lapse moment. We can bring the vibrant beauty and breath-taking brilliance of God to others. The Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22) Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Generosity, Mildness, Faith, Modesty, Self- Control, and Chastity become our internal bouquet. A bouquet we can offer to others every day.

When was the last time you really took pleasure and appreciated a flower? We are all here to spread the Fragrance of God everywhere we go and the Holy Spirit is within us in every way.

You are a beautiful flower in the Garden of God…fragrant beyond comparison…

Let this Pentecost be like no other you have experienced.

Make a bouquet in your heart of these gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Live your life “in full bloom”!

Fresh Squeezed Inspiration

You do know that you have the power to choose? I don’t mean like choosing what to wear to work or when to eat. I mean choosing important things like what your reaction will be to any given situation.

 Since I seem to to fixated on lemonade these days, people have asked me about the lemon seeds.  You decide how to view the “seeds” in your life just as you choose the ingredients for your Lemonade Day.

 No two days are alike- you are the unique ingredient, the recipe developer.  How do you look at the “seeds” in your life? What do you consider the seeds to be. Is it an illness, an misunderstanding with your best friend, a lost job, a broken marriage, an addiction? I am sure you each could fill in the blank with many more things you think are seeds.

 In making fresh homemade lemonade I would certainly discard the seeds without giving them a second thought, but without the seeds there would be no lemon. Without the lemon there could be no lemonade. What do you do with the seeds in your life? As we all know, a seed when planted can bring forth new life. One small seed contains an abundance of life. One small lemon seed can grow into a tree producing many more lemons and seeds. Perhaps we need to closely examine the seeds in our life and open ourselves up to their potential for more. Sometimes we unknowingly collect these seeds in our life and carry them around as extra baggage never realizing their hidden beauty. Maybe we live under the weight of our lemon seeds because we never realized that we could use them for new lemon trees. New lemon trees producing bright yellow lemons waiting to release their juice for refreshing lemonade. Imagine how different your life could be IF you planted more of your lemon seeds. Imagine the vast grove of lemon trees you could personally be responsible for as the planter of your seeds.

I challenge you to risk considering what your lemon seeds could produce if you just let them. Slicing lemons for my “Sassy” water gives me a chance to appreciate the possibilities of my “lemon seeds”. The possibility of what might be.

Make It a Lemonade Day! Squeeze out every drop of flavor!

Sharon for Faith Twins