God made a flower bed…it was full of
hundreds of different kinds of flowers all unique and one of a kind.
They were beautiful and glorious, all of the colors popping, and
blending, and swaying in the cool breeze and sunshine! There were tall
ones, short ones, some spread out and some went straight up. Blue
ones, yellow, red, orange, purple, white, pink, and on and on! Some
leaves were thick and dark,some were thin and light, and some
were striped. It was so beautiful and it brought Him such joy to look at!!
One morning God went to look at His
beautiful flowers and He smiled at their beauty, but the closer He
got, something seemed odd…..they were murmuring…what were they
saying? So he got closer. They were complaining! The petunia
wanted to be a rose! The rose wanted to be a sunflower! The
amaryllis wanted to be peonies! Oh my, All but just a few were
moaning and complaining about being something different! God could
not believe what He was hearing. Surely they could appreciate their
own beauty and uniqueness, not one of them was just a like!! And they
were all beautiful! “They will settle down and see that they are
best just as they are,” God told Himself.
A few days later God again returned to
admire the beautiful flowers and again they were murmuring. God was
disappointed that they had not been able to recognize that they were
wonderfully and fearfully made and that He loved them all the same.
So he granted their wishes. “There now, perhaps they will be happy,
but I had a better plan.”
Once again in a few days God returned
to the beautiful bed of flowers expecting them all to be singing and
laughing and soaking in the sunshine, for He had granted their
requests! Instead He heard them murmuring and whining about not
liking the new flower they had become. “It’s too high up here, I
am getting dizzy!” "I don’t like it down here, I can’t see
anything!” “This color does not compliment my complexion!”
“I’ve changed my mind. I would rather be a lily not a peony or an
amaryllis! Yes, a lily would be much better for me!”
“Listen to me, for I am your creator.
You were all created special with certain colors and sizes and
unique shapes. You were all created for a specific purpose. You can
never be happy being anything but what you were designed for!” Admire each other and grow together, but be what you are and
celebrate yourself! I love you and I know what I am doing.”
And so with a whisper and a touch He turned the flowers back to what
they were in the beginning. Oh what a relief to be in their own
skin! How natural and free it felt! God smiled.
How many times do we look this way or
that trying to be “something or someone”? Women are especially
good at this. We look at someone and think oh I want her life…she
has everything she wants and goes anywhere and drives a fancy car,
etc…. I want that! We are so unhappy with our own blessings
because our eyes are on someone else's, or what we think are their
blessings. Truth might be, that if you were given her life with
those “things” you might realize that what comes with that is a
sad and lonely woman full of hurts who is covering them up with stuff. I
am not saying every woman like that is sad, I’m just saying you
don’t know everything, so don’t assume. What might be great for
someone else might not be a good fit for you! We seem to look at and
glamorize other things without realizing the reality of it. Like
being a big star! Sure looks good on the outside but maybe not so
much on the inside. “I want to sing like so and so, or teach like so
and so, or have that career, or stay home, or on and on!” We are
always looking around comparing ourselves to someone else and falling
short in our own eyes, but what about our Creator’s eyes? How does
He see us?
Why don’t we just find out what WE
were created for and what OUR gifts are and BLOOM there?
Not only do we put awkward unreachable
expectations on ourselves, but we allow others to do it as well!
Several years ago, I lightheartedly asked a man in my church, “When
are you going to let D___ be what God has gifted her to be and let
her teach women about being mothers. She is so wise!” “I know,”
he said. “But she is doing exactly what God has gifted her
to do. She is my wife and the mother of our seven children, and she
knows that is her calling right now and she loves it.” He was very
sweet about it and I thought, “Oh wow, that is true!” And the
longer I knew her, the more I knew she was doing exactly what she was
supposed to and being exactly who she was supposed to – nothing
less and nothing more. She was very content to be her. She understood
her calling and balance. She made time for herself, her health, her
God, her husband, and her children and they got the best of her.
Truly she was very WISE! She is a very godly woman and full of Godly
wisdom, and I saw an incredible teacher. Those were MY expectations,
not God's and not at that time. She was wise enough to know it.
Do you want to be content? Be exactly
who God created you to be. Find your gifts and be YOU! Want to be
unhappy? Try to be someone else. Who am I? What am I like? What kind of
people do I like to be around? Why? What makes me laugh and what
makes me content? What an I passionate about? What are my
priorities right now? Start thinking about these things and more!
Pray and ask God to show you how He made you and what He made you
for, and for goodness sake, LISTEN!! Don’t compare yourself to
the other flowers! BE YOU! It’s the best fit and you will feel
great in it!!!
By: Libby Golden
Hello!
My name is Carolyn Judge. I'm married to a great man and have 2
awesome kids. I love to run and watch football. I teach first grade
and could never see myself doing anything else (but who knows). 
