God Loves to Grow Things

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When my friend Sara sent out her morning devotional one day last week, she shared a portion of this passage from the beautiful Old Testament love story in Song of Solomon.

The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!
Song of Solomon 2:12-13

I have heard some beautiful bird songs this spring and “the flowers have already appeared in the land” here in Tennessee. At twilight one day last week, I noticed the pink dogwood tree through a window. I hurried out to capture its blooms before they fade away.

This large dogwood tree is a grand mass of pink when you stand far away. Though the blooms of this old tree are far from perfect when you come closer; as with so many things, they are remarkable when you get a very close look.

I learned that the four pink or white petals of a dogwood tree aren’t really petals. They are bracts, which are actually leaves. The real dogwood flowers are the tiny clusters in the center of the bracts.

Normally each of these tiny flowers, which are only about 1/4 inch tall, has four petals, four sepals, four stamens, and one pistil. Each of the pistils has an ovary which produces a seed.

A tall, old maple tree stands beside our pink dogwood. Its branches are draped with flowers, too.

I walked through our yard and saw other treasures God had placed for us there—

Irises ready to bloom, . . .

Flourishing oregano, . . .

More blossoms on the white dogwood tree.

When you look in the center of this closeup, you can see that one of these dogwood flowers has opened. You can see its four petals and at least one of its stamens.

I found more seeds. It’s that time of year.

God loves to grow things—including you and me and our kids.

. . . but speaking the truth in love, 
we are to grow up in all aspects
into Him who is the head, even Christ, 
from whom the whole body,
being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies,
according to the proper working of each individual part, 
causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Ephesians 4:15-16

 

 

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