Making time to enjoy flowers is a simple yet significant way to experience fresh doses of wonder in your life. Flowers symbolize beauty, fun, and joy – all of which can lead you to wonder. During the month of May, flowers are abundant, so it’s an especially good time to pursue awe through flowers.
Lately, my family and I have visited flowers at many gardens: several botanical gardens, gardens at local parks, garden centers, friends’ and family’s home gardens, and our own home garden. We’ve even visited a digital garden, in the form of an art exhibit that immerses viewers into garden scenes using innovative video technology. We flew on a virtual journey through a forest of flowering trees at the digital art exhibit, whirling up to the treetops and down to the petals of individual blooms.
Why are we seeking flowers so much? Every encounter we have with them blossoms into awe-inspiring moments that encourage us.
Flowering gardens remind us of all the beautiful possibilities for growth that exist in our lives – especially when we’re in relationships with the greatest gardener of all, God. Jesus compares himself to a flowering plant (a vine) in the Bible when he says “I am the true vine and my father is the gardener. … Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit…” (John 15:1,4-5). When we’re connected to God, we can grow, thrive, and contribute something beautiful to the world. Seeing ourselves as God’s flowers helps us see the wonder of God’s work in our lives.
Want to learn more about flowers? Wake Up to Wonder includes a section on flowers in the nature chapter that explores their spiritual significance. This blog on flowers includes Bible verses about flowers that you can use in prayer and meditation.
This month, consider how your soul can bloom more. What can you do to connect more closely with the greatest gardener, root yourself in his love, and share that love with others who need more beauty, fun, and joy in their lives?
Learn more about experiencing God’s wonder in Wake Up to Wonder (order the paperback or the e-book) and Wonder Through the Year: A Daily Devotional for Every Year (order the paperback or the e-book).