Blooming where it doesn't feel natural

I took this photo yesterday in downtown Kiev outside a very expensive restaurant. (No I didn't eat there). The pansies look beautiful planted between the rocks. But, we all know this wouldn't happen naturally in our gardens. We would have to fill those places between the rocks with good soil and plant pansies that we didn't expect to "volunteer" and return next spring. Life between those rocks would be too difficult to expect more than one season of blooms!

I feel a little like those flowers. My life isn't happening "naturally" right now. Living out of a suitcase in my apartment in Kiev - no longer feels like home. Not going back to my last home in NC. Not even going to my sister's last home in the USA. Going to a new state, will look for a new home, find a new church and will start a new business - planting ourselves and hoping we'll not find too many rocks in our way.

Almost every decision we make right now is huge! I've been feeling almost pinned it with little flexibility at times. This week the Lord reminded me of my truth. In Psalm 18:19, 36 and 118:5, I read the words "wide-open place", a "spacious place". I sat here yesterday just saying those words over and over. "Wide-open". "Spacious". If I'm right with the Lord, I'm hearing His voice and I need never feel pinned in. The Psalmist says He "widens a place beneath our steps".

We may not be able to move all the "rocks" around us. We may not be able to control the events of our lives to feel "natural" or "like it should be". But, we can be sure that there is a "spacious place" with our name on it. We may have to close our eyes and repeat it to both our heart and our mind over and over. While we do that, we can wiggle our "spiritual" toes and feel those rocks give way to new, solid ground. Yep, if He planted us - blooming is our future!