Where are you planted?

Conner was helping me do something today beside the shade garden under the tree in our backyard and asked about the honeydew seed he had planted there this spring. "Why doesn't it have honeydew on it? Why is there only one flower?" I had to explain to him that different kinds of plants need to go in different places and he should have planted his honeydew in a place that gets more sun. His honeydew grew a plant in that location but it would never reach is full potential because it wasn't meant to be in shade.

I have some plants that just love the sun. I have them in a sunny place on the west or south side of our house and they just grow like crazy. They are plant superstars. I have to keep cutting them back because they get too big for their britches and need a little discipline.  Then I have other plants that just love the shade. They go in the plot beside our garage that gets almost no sun or under the tree that only gets a little dappled sun and they quietly grow and thrive and do their plant thing.

I had some hostas (shade lovers) planted in the wrong spot in the front yard and they were getting eaten by bunnies and didn't have enough shade.  I had to transplant them for their own good or they would have withered and died. I'm sure they didn't like it. They kind of threw a plant fit and refused to grow for a while. They sulked and complained and hung their leaves. I'm sure in plantese they were asking, "Why me, Dianne? Why do bad things happen to good plants? Haven't I done everything you asked of me? How is it my fault the bunnies were eating me? I don't have any natural defenses against bunnies. Am I not a good plant? Do you not love me anymore? Why have you forsaken me, Dianne?!" If they could have understood me, they would have heard me say that I was moving them to a place where their potential could be realized.  They would have understood that I was doing what was best for them in the long run. If they had trusted me, they would have realized that a little pain in the short term is worth being rooted in a much healthier place for them.

I get it. Sometimes change seams really hard. Really, really, really hard. As in, difficult, tough and just all-around stinks and we don't like it. Change can sometimes seem like a step back and a bad thing. A little over a year ago, God called me to leave a church I had been attending for about 12 years. This was a really small church and they were like family to me. I fought it for a long time thinking, "There's no way that's what God's saying. Can't be. I don't wanna." Finally God kicked me in the butt AND gave me confirmation from a mentor that I trusted a lot. I finally obeyed. I had to drive by a church close to my house quite often and I just felt a pull. I prayed and felt that's where I was supposed to attend so I decided to go.

The first Sunday after I left my small, intimate church family, I ended up on the floor of my closet. I was a sobbing mess in a puddle of my own misery. I didn't want to go somewhere else! I didn't want to have to start all over making new friends and getting to know people. For an introvert, meeting new people and making new friends is a gargantuan undertaking. This new church was big and I was intimidated by it. I had NEVER been to a church that big. I had been on the praise team at my old church and kind of felt like I was a part of things there. I felt ownership there. Now I was back to being the new kid who no one knew.

I realized that I had a choice. I could complain to God and ask "Why me?" and throw a fit and refuse to grow, or I could trust that God had me in a new place for a reason and put down some new roots. I started getting involved, made some friends and volunteered for things. Then, a miracle happened. My husband, who has refused to attend church with me for 15 years, started attending church out of the blue. He's been coming every week for two months now. My old place must have just been too sunny. It hurt being transplanted but it was worth it to move to a place where we can both thrive.

A new place being better for you doesn't mean the old place was bad. Maybe you were in the shade and God wants you to be in the sun because that's what you need to thrive. Maybe you are withering in the sun and God's trying to let you rest in the shade for a while. It's possible the old place was the right place at the time. The shady spot under the tree in our back yard wasn't a good place for hostas 5 years ago because the tree wasn't big enough. Now it is and it was the right time to move them. Maybe I'm the only one who hates big changes like that but I don't think so. If that's you, too, try trusting God that (in His timing) he's putting you in the right place to reach your potential. Enjoy the shade!