Unexpected Beauty In Letting Go

Hollyhocks, self sown, are among my favorites this year.
They help welcome everyone to the garden.

I have been looking out my window at the summer flowers in my garden and thinking about how much I have enjoyed them this year.  This is in spite of the fact that most of them were planted where they are without any help from me and grow in places I would have never wanted to plant them.

The wanderers
Jacob Cline Monarda and Cooley's Hedge Nettle

Between the mole moving bits of roots and bulbs around to things self sowing, it has become a surprise every year as to what will come up where and the garden has become less and less of what I planned it to be and more of a wild child.  In spite this the flowers are still performing beautifully...maybe more so than when I wielding control of it.

Adenaflora...Under the Quince tree?
I never planted it there!

I have spent many days in angst over what I have defined as the crying child who I am unable to console.  By that I mean I can no longer keep it weeded and keep plants in their places.  But as I think about what I have witnessed this year I have to say, in spite of this anxiety there has been a blessing  born in every new batch of flowers that open up...fantastic, beautiful, sweet and bold flowers!

This garden is a far cry from the well groomed, regularly mulched garden with trimmed chamomile pathways and plants kept within bounds that I used to maintain.  And as I consider what I am witnessing I think I have a huge lesson God is teaching me...I need to relax a lot more.  He has shown me that control does not give me what I think it will.  It only serves to make me feel I need to always be in control.  And if my efforts are all spent on control, how much do I miss out on when I am so focused on needing to be in control?  I think I have missed out on a lot of opportunities to see His beauty in my life because of this. But am hopeful for the future as I let go and let Him have His way as I remember that nothing is loss in God's economy.

Astrantia major doing a major job of self sowing
where Iris siberica 'David' also grows.

If you can relate to what I am saying then I encourage you to take today and try to enjoy the blooms you find in your life, especially those that pop up in unexpected and seemingly unwanted places.  And don't be afraid of let go of those plans for your life.  Let them go and hit the ground and let God raise them up like an emerging plant from a seed buried in the soil emerges in the right time.  Letting God direct and design the plan for our lives will bring about His best for us.

Bronze fennel self sowed amid the tulips
and I loved it!

Make room for what God wants to grow in your life, surrender to the Master Gardener.  Lay down the shovel of self-will, the wheel barrow of pride, the hoe of anxiety and the rake of rebellion and the tiller of selfish ambition and let His eternal beauty will begin to bloom in the garden of your life.  Ask Him for help if you are struggling with this.  I had to, my entire identity used to be tied to this garden back in the day.  I prayed to God that if it was not a place where He would be glorified and where people would be able to experience His love that He would take it from me.  He hasn't taken it from me but He has changed the garden and at the same time has changed my hearts desire for it.

Designed by my team of moles
Garden Phlox behind Nectaroscordum
Not bad, Not bad at all.

God's will is for our good; a good that is more often defined differently than we define it but in the end will bring forth such amazing beauty where only the weeds of sin once grew. May His beauty be born out in your life today as you start trusting Him for your future.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."



Copyright © 2012 by Patty Hicks
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