A Tulip Tale

The sun was bright and the afternoon pleasant. I took my camera out in the backyard and was surprised to find my favorite tulip blooming. This year, for the very first time ever, I have been blessed with two blooms.

Six years ago this poor tulip was overstressed and appeared to be dying. I dug it up and moved the stemless flower to a new spot where it would no longer be trampled by dogs or set upon by cats. My heart was sad because I was fairly certain my actions were too little too late, but God wasn't finished with that flower. With a little bit of tender love, a few years time, and His gentle hands, there came a transformation.

Who would have thought a simple tulip could teach me such a valuable lesson? (Yeah, I'm getting weird on you here...) Two years ago I felt lost and overwhelmed in the midst of caring for my mom and yet there was this tulip teaching me something I didn't fully see. I even said this, "If God cares so much for flowers, He must love me too. The tulip I feared might never recover is beautiful again! Perhaps there is hope for me too. :)"

I'm not sure what happened deep inside that tulip, down in the heart of it, the place that we can't see, but I do know it has been transformed. What once looked like a hopeless, dying flower, is now full of new strength and beauty and it was nothing that the tulip did on its own.

God is changing me deep inside too. For several years I have felt dried up inside but He was working something I never could have done on my own. I was reminded yesterday afternoon of an old song written by Stuart Hamblen. "It Is No Secret" is the story of God's work in Stuart's life. Thank God He isn't finished with me.

You may have longed for added strength

Your courage to renew

Do not be disheartened

I have news for you.

 It is no secret what God can do,
What he has done for others,
He'll do for you.
With arms wide open,
He'll pardon you
It is no secret what God can do.