Living and Not Just Existing

Sometimes life can feel like one big storm where the waves just flop you back-and-forth and you feel you can’t even stand because the current is so strong and the waters are so deep.  You just go with the flow being knocked all around, treading water and trying not to drown.  Feeling like you have no control over what’s going on in your life.

Recently, Hurricane Florence came through our town.  She battered our area with wind and more rain than I've ever seen in my entire life.  Walking outside a few days after the storm passed, I noticed these flowers...

You can tell where during the storm the wind blew for hours, trying to knock them over and destroy them.  They were battered and bruised but you know what else I saw that day?  

Life.  

They were LIVING and not just existing...called to bloom and flourish and live the life they were created for.  No, they weren't standing perfectly straight as they were a few days ago but they were still standing.  Even in the midst of the imperfection, they are still beautiful.    

So on those days that I feel bruised and beaten and barely able to keep my head above water, I will remember these flowers. It's a visual reminder that the God I serve, can calm the storms and that I wasn't put here to simply exist but to LIVE a life of abundance (John 10:10)....even if I'm a little tattered and torn - I can still bloom, and you can too!