blumen

Germany is so cool. Every once in a while, on the side of the roads you'll find big fields with beautiful, colorful flowers and big yellow signs that say blumen. Even with my very limited German, I can figure out that the signs are advertising flowers available for the picking. It's self-serve and on the honor system... you go, pick your flowers, and deposit the money in a little metal box. They even leave little knives for you to cut the flower stalks.

Every time I drive by that field, I want to stop. It's on the way to the airport, so I pass it OFTEN! =) Well, the lady who owns this apartment LOVES flowers, and she and her husband return tomorrow. I thought it would be great if I could pick her some fresh flowers... so this afternoon my friend and I headed out to the blumen field. Oh my word... there were beautiful, bright, colorful gladiolas EVERYWHERE. I found myself just walking through the flowers, taking in the colors... just struck by the beauty of it. It was INCREDIBLY beautiful.

I was just standing there, taking it in, not even really paying attention to my own thoughts... when I realized that there was a passage of Scripture just replaying over and over again in my head--

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do no be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matthew 6:28-34)

Jesus is so wise...

My agenda has gotten quite long. It's time to close up the program and leave Germany. There's a million little details for me to take care of, not to mention all of the crazy emotions that accompany saying good-bye. I love how Jesus uses the blumen field to speak right into that and tell me the truth. And tonight... I sit here staring at the gladiolas in a vase in the middle of a coffee table and I remember... He's God and He's shown me a million times that He loves me. That's reason enough to let go and trust Him.