Bloom

It's been a while, but I'm finally linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker and the amazing Five Minute Friday community of bloggers with the word prompt BLOOM.  

I don't consider myself a "mommy" blogger.  It's not because I'm not a mom, because I am.  It's because, as a mom, I feel the most inadequate in all my roles in life.  I don't have creative ideas for road trips, or pinterest worthy ideas for getting the kids to obey and do chores.  

However, motherhood, has altered my life in so many wonderful and fulfilling ways.  Motherhood, in all it's triumphs and fears, in all the laughter and tears, in all the trials and victories, is where the most growth has happened in my life.  

For years, I looked to my mom and some of the ladies I grew up knowing as "second" mom's to me as being the ideal mothers.  They were the unattainable perfection for my unrealistic goals regarding being a mom. I held them on a pedestal, and now I understand where my admiration came from.

These ladies labored long and hard for years raising their children.  They went through the very growth that I am going through now.  God grew them spiritually through their natural work of motherhood.

I am a terrible gardener, and would consider myself a brown thumb.  

Something I've learned recently about growing a good plant that will bloom in it's season is this: it requires pruning.  Pruning is necessary to bring forth the harvest, the fruit, the full bloom.  God is in the business of pruning our broken, dead and overgrown areas of our lives so we can bloom into the gift He's called us to be - to bloom into the purpose for which He's called us. 

This is what wikipedia says about the purpose of pruning:  Reasons to prune plants include deadwood removal, shaping (by controlling or directing growth), improving or maintaining health, and both harvesting and increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruits. 

God is working away in us, removing the dead parts, shaping us to direct our growth, and he's improving our spiritual health to increase the yield and quality of the fruits that we bear.  

Motherhood, is the place where I realize just how much of a sinner I am, and how far short of God's glory I fall.  But, when I look at those mature mothers, who are like strong, old oak trees, who have weathered the storms and still bloom with green leaves, when I look at them, I now understand the reason they bloom  is from the pruning through the early years.  

They are the perfect example of Psalm 92:14 (AMP) "[Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age..."

Let your roots dig deep into Him, for it's in deep roots that we will bloom.  Let's be determined to learn in this season of motherhood, and see where God wants to take us to bloom.  This is a season of pruning for me, and now I'm truly grateful for the growth that is taking place.