Lilies Of The Valley

Have you ever wondered if you were a friend of God? If He has even heard you? Or if you were just talking to thin air hoping for some sort of response from something bigger than you?

I have lately been struggling in my walk with Christ. I've been struggling with whether or not God cares for me, or better stated, me as a person. Not me the wife or me the mom. You see, I wear a lot of hats; I am, as I stated, a wife, a mom, a chef, a nutritionist, a meal planner, a maid, a one-person laundromat, a one-woman woman post office, a hairstylist, a fashion consultant, a confidante, a nurse, an interior decorator, a professional referee, a landscape, a researcher, teacher, an owner's manual for all things in the house, a kids friendly version of Merriam Webster, an herbalist, and a woman. But I am also a Christian , the daughter of the King, I am free and forgiven, and a friend of God.

Sometimes though, I forget that last one. Sometimes I forget that I'm a friend of God, and He calls me friend. Sometimes forget who I am in Him and that He loves me. I know that I'm forgiven, I know that I'm saved, I know that He is my God. Yet I forget he cares for me as a person.

In my wearing all of those hats I lose sight of that important detail. That he cares for me. Not just my husband, who is the leader of the house. Not just my children. He cares for me. Samantha. God knows me and has not forgotten me in the midst of motherhood and marriage.

During bible study the ladies and I have been going through a book about Sabbath rest, and how this rest is crucial to our walk with Christ. I'm learning, that I need to take a Sabbath rest from searching for who I am and what I like. You see, Sabbath rest is more than just stopping something. Sabbath rest is actually an active rest. It is choosing to rest in God. It is choosing to fellowship with God and finding sweet release in that. And I am finding that I'm losing sight of this as I grip more and more tightly, and as I seek more and more.

I am losing sight of Jesus.

I want to tell you about a miracle.

Now disclaimer, I like to think this is a miracle because I know my God. I know that He loves me, little old me. And I know that He is mindful of me and that He hears me when I call, even when I'm questioning Him. And it's in those moments, that I've noticed God to be very tangible in my life. So with that in mind, let me tell you about the Lilies of the Valley.

Now in my yard it's not easy to grow things. The sun is spotty here and there are so many trees around my house that it's hard to find a spot to grow things. Or even a spot that gets substantial sunlight. It is also hard, to grow flowers for that same reason. Now I don't know about you but I'm not exactly a green thumb. I struggle keeping daffodils and tulips alive, and if things thrive in my yard, it is solely the work of God.

Now this year though, some things have popped up. Take for example our honeysuckle bush. This bush was put in by the previous owners and although it hasn't blossomed in a while, this year it has. I think that is because of my half Hazard pruning though. But something amazing happened. The left side of the staircase going up to a house there are a bunch of rocks, and this is very slanted and hard area. Even the bushes don't grow in there. Although we do have a family of chipmunks living underneath the rocks.

But as I was sitting in Bible study wondering if God really cared for me as a person and took into consideration what I wanted, not what my husband wanted, but who I really am and what I really like. I began to realize something amazing. 

God has given me a sure sign of His love that I didn't recognize before.

My neighbor across the street is an amazing woman, she plants her flowers and they blossom she has an amazing array of Flora. Sadly, I do not have her abilities. But when I saw a flower I did not immediately recognize, although I had a hunch of what it might be, I immediately thought to ask her. So I brought over the flower and I asked her what it was. She took a look at it and said "This is a lily of the valley!"  and she looked quite amazed because no one in my neighborhood has Lily of the Valley flowers.

No. one.

I thought that was pretty interesting, seeing as I basically have an almost black thumb and the previous owners of our house never planted Lily of the valleys here.

Yet here they are in the rockiest part of our yard blossoming in a row.

Now honestly, this makes me cry thinking about it. Because our God is such a good God! There is a verse in Matthew 6, well actually the whole section of verses 25 through 34, about worrying, and what life really is about, and what we shouldn't worry about. I'm pretty sure though we've all heard it before. About how God provides for the birds, who do nothing, and for the lilies of the field and how, if He provides for them, and we are of much more value than they, why do we worry about whether or not God will provide?!

Let me tell you, we have been struggling with Matt's job. Faults on both sides have changed some things in his job. We have been wondering how we would go about making ends meet as I stay home with our babies and try to hoks our baby fever at bay. And as I sat in Bible study talking to these ladies about my fears, and insecurities, and doubts, and how I question whether or not God cares. I came to realize that these lilies that God has planted in the rockiest part of our yard, where nothing else can grow, is a miracle. It is tangible evidence of God's love and care for me!

So as I sit there questioning weather God sees me and hears me, I remember that these flowers are not easy to grow. They are very difficult to grow, yet here they are, and in the rockiest part of my yard, where none have ever been before.

Oh God, who am I that You are mindful of me? That You hear me when I call?

Oh my dear friend, please don't allow yourself to forget that He hears you and that He cares. If our God provides for the flowers that fade, and for the birds who don't toil away, how much more will He provide for us? Us, whom He sent HIS Son to die for?

Those Lilies are my tangible remembrance of God's love for me.

What has God provided you as a rememberance of His love?

Xoxo,
Sam