Pink Highlights
I’m running a fever today. It is a chronic condition that I “suffer” from every year at around this time. Yes, you guessed it, it’s Spring fever. My symptoms have gotten worse by the fact that our winter here in NE Oklahoma has been virtually non existent. The last frost date for our area is still four weeks away. I am self medicating myself with “greenhouse therapy.” I have flat of herb seeds planted in addition to over seventy geranium seedlings. I have filled three flats with cuttings of Eucalyptus, Euphorbia, Alyssum, and Purple Heart.
The Purple Heart plant, (Setcreasea pallida) is known as a “tender perennial.” Basically, that means that the plant will not survive over winter in areas where temperatures are sometimes severe. Here in zone 7 Purple heart usually goes dormant in the ground and comes back every year. I am using Purple Heart more and more in my landscaping. It is mainly grown for it’s violet-purple foliage but it also has the most beautiful, delicate pink flowers in the summer. It is fairly low growing, (8-12” in height) thrives our hot summer temperatures in full sun, and tolerates imperfect soil conditions. It has great versatility and can be used as a ground cover, in containers, or in hanging baskets. It requires very little water and will easily rebound in drought conditions. In other words, it is a forgiving plant.
“O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!”Psalm 118:1
I am one of those people who, when I am studying my Bible, I highlight certain verses. I do not highlight all the time. It’s just in those precious moments when I finally get a true revelation in the message of God’s Word. Normally I use a yellow highlighter. But, there is one exception; it is Psalm 118. In Psalm 118 in my Bible the verses 1,2, 3, 4, and 29 are all highlighted in the color pink. Specifically the words, “His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.”
My husband and I spent several years in a very dark time. We were trying to live our lives our own way, in our own strength and make things happen on our own. We failed miserably. My thirty minute work commute consisted of tears rolling down my face and crying out to God. I had to sit in the parking lot, blow my nose, fix my make up, and paint on a smile before I could go into the door of the garden center I was working at. I spent two years reading the book of Psalms over and over again. Then one day I came to Psalm 118 for the third or forth time. Boom, I finally got it. “His mercy and loving kindness endure forever.” No matter what I had done, where I had been, or what circumstances I found myself in, I could begin again. The thoughts of, “It’s too late, you missed it, you blew it, it’s over for you” where nothing more than lies from the enemy. An enemy who has no ability to speak anything except lies, (John 8:44.)
My wonderful and loving Heavenly Father was saying to me, “Stop listening to the enemy and hear Me. I am not finished with you yet. I AM the God of new beginnings. I have already paid the price for anything you have ever or will ever say or do. Trust Me, take one small step everyday.”
That same message is for all of us, my friends. We are approaching the season of Spring. The time when God’s creation wakes up from it’s winter dormancy. The time when new seed is planted and growth begins. Let’s prune out the dead wood of despair and hopelessness. Read God’s Word again for the first time. Allow Him to direct you to a new beginning and plan for your life. You may very well have to start with God’s “plan B.” But, that “B” only stands for “Better.” He is all powerful and all knowing. He knows you better than you know yourself. He is the only one who can take a broken life and make it better than new. The choice is yours. The only thing stopping you from a life of victory and peace… is you. Lay aside the anger, hurt and regret. They will only keep the wounds open and festering. Stay in His Word. Speak His Word. Slowly and steadily as the past is pushed into the past, Spring will come. The soil of your heart will warm; new growth and new life will emerge. Mercy and loving kindness will flow through you. Strength from the truth of God’s Word will cause your once purple heart to bloom with confidence and hope regardless of circumstance.
“For in Him does our heart rejoice, because we have trusted (relied on and been confident) in His holy name. Let Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, in proportion to our waiting and hoping for You.” Psalm 33:21-22