Bloom Where You Are Planted

Years ago (think close to 20), I first saw this saying at a Cracker Barrel when I was with a treasured friend and I knew it fit me. I love it and it has become quite applicable in my life. We made this move over 7 years ago kicking and screaming. Did NOT want to leave our beloved mountains. Then, when I had settled down, picked myself up, and stopped blocking the blessings that the Lord wanted to abundantly bestow upon us, I though of this: Bloom where you are planted, my child. Ah! What a difference!

So fast forward and I do mean FAST forward  6 years. I walk in the mornings at 6. This was the sunrise. I was actually late, at 6 it's already up this high:

 and I realized that even in the midst of this desperately parched land, there are beautiful things blooming:

Amidst the dirt:

And the rock:

And the prickly thorns:

And the dusty ground:

Amongst the spines:  

In the prickly places:

In the sweltering heat:

With little to no rain:

God can make things bloom:

That doesn't mean we're not praying for rain, but the blessings are there, in abundance if we'll just stop long  enough to accept them.

  And sometimes He throws in a little extra in for good measure: