I woke up early this morning, slowly allowing the conversation to begin again...
As I stretched and listened close to the morning breeze play songs all around me, the birds joined in with the wind chimes in three part harmony, and I anticipate His love whispering soft.
The choice was there, almost like an invitation, to simply curl up on my side and close my eyes once again... drifting off in the name of Rest. Rest is good, right? And yet...
I stretched again, full body...
and I chose wisely.
I got up.
For I had plans... a morning date. With God, yes, but also with a friend.
We laced up our shoes and pulled back our hair. We put on our shades and opened wide our hearts as we prayer-walked our way around the neighborhood... fully believing that we were shifting atmospheres and taking ground as we prayed over streets, homes, schools and parks.
"Come Home!" kept rising up as our cry, and "Let Hope Arise" became our declaration.
I began to notice an abundance of sunflowers at every turn. Huge ones, small patches, some tall and towering, some just starting to climb. They were around every corner and down every road.
We were finding an unusual amount of gorgeous sunflowers. So much so that I asked God if He was speaking, because so often wonders surround us and His heart is singing over us truths that we long to hear, if only we would slow and tune our ears and hearts to listen.
Here's what I know about sunflowers:
I'm sure if I dug around I could find more revelation, but this was enough for me! A gift... a prophetic word... a bit of wonder waiting to be found.
Some of these flowers were planted and cared for... some it seems just popped up and thrived anyway.
Yes, Lord. Let it be so.
Let that be said of us. Let our hopes and dreams and very lives be like Sunflowers to those around us - full of joy and adoration... lifting heads and hearts to the sun... to the Son... strong and tall, just giving praise by simply standing and looking full on the face of God.
Let us choose wisely... Resting sometimes, yes - but leaning in and working and walking, and praying through at other times.
Later in the day, I was praying with some other friends. We covered many things, but one thing stuck out... I uttered these words for another - but then quickly knew this is a prayer I will pray over me:
Right? I mean, come on!
That's good stuff right there, because I don't know about you --but I know me.
I have plenty of excuses... some of them even sound like wisdom or feel like an invitation... and yet, my hearts' cry is that even the best of excuses will not shout louder than the quiet dreamy promptings of the Holy Spirit... how He woos us and beckons us to come and sit with Him... to come and walk with Him in the cool of the day where He will point out wonders left and right and He will fill you up and direct your path... He will speak to you through flowers, if you will let Him!
His favorite place, I think, has always been to gather in a garden... for that is where He is surrounded by praise and we see more clearly how His wonders never cease!
May your path be sunny, and the sides scattered with sunflowers that shout praises of joy and point you skyward, to look to the sun... May you prayer-walk in the Garden or just down the road... May you hear His dreamy promptings louder than excuses and false wisdom... May you know who you are, be in community, shine brightly for all to see... May you spread joy and grow rapidly in dry places...
May you thrive anyway!
As I stretched and listened close to the morning breeze play songs all around me, the birds joined in with the wind chimes in three part harmony, and I anticipate His love whispering soft.
The choice was there, almost like an invitation, to simply curl up on my side and close my eyes once again... drifting off in the name of Rest. Rest is good, right? And yet...
I stretched again, full body...
and I chose wisely.
I got up.
For I had plans... a morning date. With God, yes, but also with a friend.
We laced up our shoes and pulled back our hair. We put on our shades and opened wide our hearts as we prayer-walked our way around the neighborhood... fully believing that we were shifting atmospheres and taking ground as we prayed over streets, homes, schools and parks.
"Come Home!" kept rising up as our cry, and "Let Hope Arise" became our declaration.
I began to notice an abundance of sunflowers at every turn. Huge ones, small patches, some tall and towering, some just starting to climb. They were around every corner and down every road.
We were finding an unusual amount of gorgeous sunflowers. So much so that I asked God if He was speaking, because so often wonders surround us and His heart is singing over us truths that we long to hear, if only we would slow and tune our ears and hearts to listen.
Here's what I know about sunflowers:
Each head is actually thousands of individual flowers -each petal is a ray flower, which speaks to me of keeping our own identity while being connected to community and of being a light!
They are called sunflowers because they turn their face toward the sun... so I obviously love that! This speaks to me about our priority of being in His Presence and how we are drawn to Him... we are after Him and desire the warmth of His gaze.
They are extremely cheerful flowers and symbolize joy and adoration. Also, they grow rapidly in dry places... a burst of happy amidst the hard.
I'm sure if I dug around I could find more revelation, but this was enough for me! A gift... a prophetic word... a bit of wonder waiting to be found.
Some of these flowers were planted and cared for... some it seems just popped up and thrived anyway.
Yes, Lord. Let it be so.
Let that be said of us. Let our hopes and dreams and very lives be like Sunflowers to those around us - full of joy and adoration... lifting heads and hearts to the sun... to the Son... strong and tall, just giving praise by simply standing and looking full on the face of God.
Let us choose wisely... Resting sometimes, yes - but leaning in and working and walking, and praying through at other times.
Later in the day, I was praying with some other friends. We covered many things, but one thing stuck out... I uttered these words for another - but then quickly knew this is a prayer I will pray over me:
Lord, don't let our excuses overcome the promptings of Your Spirit.
Right? I mean, come on!
That's good stuff right there, because I don't know about you --but I know me.
I have plenty of excuses... some of them even sound like wisdom or feel like an invitation... and yet, my hearts' cry is that even the best of excuses will not shout louder than the quiet dreamy promptings of the Holy Spirit... how He woos us and beckons us to come and sit with Him... to come and walk with Him in the cool of the day where He will point out wonders left and right and He will fill you up and direct your path... He will speak to you through flowers, if you will let Him!
His favorite place, I think, has always been to gather in a garden... for that is where He is surrounded by praise and we see more clearly how His wonders never cease!
May your path be sunny, and the sides scattered with sunflowers that shout praises of joy and point you skyward, to look to the sun... May you prayer-walk in the Garden or just down the road... May you hear His dreamy promptings louder than excuses and false wisdom... May you know who you are, be in community, shine brightly for all to see... May you spread joy and grow rapidly in dry places...
May you thrive anyway!
JENNIFER DUKES LEE FOR #TELLHISSTORY
Oh friend! "My hearts' cry is that even the best of excuses will not shout louder than the quiet dreamy promptings of the Holy Spirit." YES!!! Sunflowers really are a beautiful flower. And as I shared with you on Voxer, my best friend got lost in a sunflower field when she was little and when they found her she simply said "Jesus and the puppies woke me up." Her license place is "son follower" and of course, not she collects all things sunflowers. Your post made me think of her today! And I too think one of Jesus' favorite places is the garden...think of the many times he was gathered in a garden throughout Scripture.
ReplyDeleteAmen! (And I love that story about your friend! Who doesn't love and feel safe with Jesus and puppies?) xoxo
DeleteOur hearts' cry is so similar! Yesterday when I was doing my walking I "saw" (and I use the quotes because, with my eyes, what I see isn't the same as what other people see) a little garden that was really just native things growing wild in this little patch of ground encircled with pavers and the sign in it said, "God's Garden" and I almost cried because it was so beautiful, to see those colors (Praise God I can still see colors!) rioting through the ground with no care whatsoever but what the Father gives them and you could almost hear them singing!
ReplyDeleteOh friend... I love this so much and I love that you can still see color too! And that you can 'see' with such clarity! xoxo
DeleteWonderful post, Karrilee! I'm glad you brought this to my attention. I've put links to all my sunflower posts under the tab (near the top of the page) called "Sunflowers."
ReplyDeleteHow fun! I will be sure to check them out soon! Thanks so much for stopping by!
DeleteJust beautiful, I love sunflowers, and miss my sunflower garden since we moved! I didn't know sunflower petals were in fact flowers! God's genius of course!
ReplyDeleteRight? I remembered reading tht somewhere - and I loved how it was such a picture for me of community and yet uniqueness! Thanks so much for popping in, Kathy!
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