I {LOVE} Sunday::to be planted and flourish...

The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the LORD is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Psalm 92:12-15 ESV
{With the Sunday Community at Lisha's #GiveMeGrace }

Still Saturday:in every relationship whatever the circumstance...

If I have a word or verse for the year, it's to flourish and be fruitful and Psalm 92, When I'm still and quiet and contemplating the path I sense the LORD is placing before me in this season, I find encouragement in the wise words of Jean Fleming.

Fruitfulness in every season requires flexibility. The vision must be broad enough, deep enough, to transfer to my changing circumstances. 

I can love God and love people to the grave and beyond. 

I can do this in every relationship no matter where I am, whatever the circumstances in my life. I can abide in Christ and be a link in the chain to help others know and follow Him. Whether it is in intense, close relationships or brief glancing contacts with people or through prayer, I can seek to glorify God and further His kingdom.

Jean Fleming, Pursue the Intentional Life, p. 122

I {LOVE} Sunday::to give thanks and flourish...

It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the LORD is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Psalm 92:1-4, 11-15


With the Sunday Community at Lisha's #GiveMeGrace

Still Saturday::to flourish in affliction...

To know that nothing hurts the godly, is a matter of comfort; but to be assured that all things which fall out shall co-operate for their good, that their crosses shall be turned into blessings, that showers of affliction water the withering root of their grace and make it flourish more; this may fill their hearts with joy till they run over.

Thomas Watson

I'm not inclined to proclaim a word for the year, but I have been known to focus on a word or phrase for a season. Like the year I contemplated "savor" every day over the sixty days before my sixtieth birthday. (Has it really been five years already?)

For months I've been sitting in a season of letting-go (more on this next week). Though the intensity has and will continue to vary, to live open-handed with joy and contentment to God's sovereignty -- His gifts and graces -- is like every word I'm given. It's not a word to discard when the year or season is over, but to take root and grow deeper to produce sweeter fruit.

As I press into this season of letting-go, I also hear God's whisper -- flourish. I hear it in His Word and in the inspired words of His people. I see it in His creation.

Flourish, my daughter, flourish.

Outside -- in our subtropic rural south winter -- the azaleas begin to flourish in my Pollywog Creek backyard.