A Beautiful Plan

A few days ago, I was looking through my collage and creative scrapings as I like to call it. I came across a half part of a card that I kept that reads, 'God has a beautiful plan for your life.' It made me think about this year ahead and all that God has in store. I came to think about a year ago and what God was doing. I can recall a year ago today, January 7th, the feast of St. Raymond of Penafort and going to that church. I felt so sad inside since I knew I would no longer be able to go to daily Mass since my schedule would be changing, when I didn't know, but the thought of it and the transition was hard to bear. Little did I know that God knew my deep desire and answered it beyond my hopes with being able to attend daily Mass for the months ahead.

As I was going through my room, organizing and redecorating, I began to notice all the flowers I had. Pictures of various types of blooms from a watercolor artist, a Van- Gough flower poster from my sister, a poppies framed picture, fake flowers, a handmade rose, dried roses from my sister's wedding reception,a lovely flower on my calendar for January, a rose for Our Lady..In all, I could count many flower displays and I find they lift the spirit and exude beauty and hope. Flowers also symbolize growth, either gradual or fast, hard or smooth; the saying, 'bloom where you're planted' is an important and relatable one. It suggests and highlights learning, patience, fortitude and hope.

I came to think of the beautiful verse from the Gospel of Luke 12:48, 'Think how the flowers grow; they never have to spin or weave; yet, I assure you, not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of them. Now if that is how God clothes a flower which is growing wild today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will he look after you, who have so little faith?' 
 This Gospel verse doesn't necessarily have to do with 'bloom where you're planted' mentality but rather trust, hope, and faith. I thought of this verse while driving by a field of yellow flowers in spring on the way to my former job. Recalling parts of this verse from the Bible and Jesus' words gave me a sense of hope and encouraged me to trust fuller, not just with my mind but my heart as well. Faith is a gradual thing and like most things in life, it takes time to bloom, it calls for patience.

When I was looking through my bag of collage and creative scraps that same day as mentioned, I also came across a notebook that I kept. It was a gift from one of my sisters for my high school graduation, and she knew I loved to write, particularity short stories. I re read what I wrote over 8 years ago, when I had first started college and getting adjusted to it all, and being in my head a lot. I normally have a poor habit of starting a story and planning it out and then not finishing it. I could tell how much my writing has changed over the years, yet how similar my ideas of stories, and characters have not and the importance of them, as well as inspiration and creativity.

 I feel I have gotten better and more mature as a writer, and telling a story but know I can always improve, as I continue to grow as a person. Like a flower blooming in a field, or writing with an idea, an inspiration and keep going with it, with hope and faith ahead even when it looks bleak and like a blind curve, there is always room for more. There's no beauty if there's no struggle and there's no great story if it was all easy. Life's a journey they say, and God has a beautiful plan.