uproot

ratatouille... good movie. jenny and i went to go see it last night at the new movie theatres that are actually just a mile down the road from calvin. but ya, funny movie. then afterwards we went out to dinner to a place called "rose's" and it's on reed's lake (recomendation by a michigan native)... delicious food, and it was realy neat since it had a great view of the lake.

today was a great day. we had lunch in grand haven at one of my favorite places that i remembered from my last visit, and it's called great harvest bread co. yummy sandwhiched on fresh homemade bread, and the best cookies ever. after hanging in grand haven for a bit, we checked out the beach at lake michigan, and then we were off to holland to go visit with the family that i am going to be staying with. it was really crazy to see how the house has changed since we last saw it... the inside had no rooms or walls when we saw it last, and the landscape was pretty much all dirt... now it's near being done, and it looks like this from the road.

this is the back yard...

and that's me and jenny in a boat, rowing in the middle of this poke (pond/lake).

now, i have made an observation today, and i'd like to share it... i'm not quite sure how long it is going to get, but here it goes.

you know the analogy of God kind of being like a gardener? i personally never got in to that analogy since i actually never understood the analogy. and i don't think many people do becuase 1)they aren't gardeners themselves or 2)they don't know any gardener's like the lady that i'll be staying with.

let me start off by saying that this landscape is amazing... different types of plants, trees, flowers, fruits, bushes, and so on... beautiful lawn, beautifully arranged, growing, in progress... just an awesome garden. but that's not what is impressive. she gave us a tour of the entire property (which you can see is rather large). we walked through the gardens and landscape and showed us each plant... and not only did she name each plant, but she went through all the details: some plants attract certain animals (butterflies, humming birds), some plants attract certain unwanted animals so need to be protected or kept an eye on (whether it be fence or netting or some contraption)... some plants she has had a hard time with getting them to grow, but are finally showing progress, there are some plants that she explained won't grow in certain places, but she found other places to put them. there are some trees that she has planted as little twigs, but she talks about what she wants them to be many many years from now. there is even a certain plant that she has to keep picking japanese beetles off of because they just love to eat those roses. each plant had a minimum 5 minute story, and it was amazing listening to her talk about her plants! she knew what each plant needed, the location of each plant, and she had a pretty good idea of what would become of each plant. at the end, she pointed to this one bush of flowers, said that they grow like crazy and my mum could easily plant it back in CA... really? yes... in fact, she was so sure of it, and wanted to share this plant, so she pulled up one flower, roots and all, and put it in a ziploc bacg for my mum to take home with her!

would you agree that she is one incredible gardener? a passionate, skilled gardener?

how much greater, then, is God? God is THE gardener... He is the best, the perfect gardener.

think about it, and as i did, it just absolutely blew my mind. God, the gardener, knows exactly what we, the plants in the garden, need. each of us has a purpose, and have been planted with a purpose. although we may undergo some troubles, rough patches, attacks, God always takes measures to protect us, to bring us back to life, to help us keep growing. some, we may not see what our future looks like, what's in store, we may just be little twigs now, but God is envisioning us becoming these big trees, or whatever he has us planned to be... you get the point? we are all different, different needs, different plans... but God covers all of that and more.

here's what i realted to most today...

some of it is going to hurt... whether it be japanese beatles eating out petals, or whether it being uprooted and replanted somewhere else...

uprooted, planted somewhere else.

when i saw this lady just pull up that flower and hand it over, complete confidence that it could grow and thrive across the country, it clicked.

i saw myself in that little yellow flower. i saw myself kind of being ripped out of the ground and planted somewhere else (i know the analogy is not complete because i get to come back and visit, but stretch it with me). God has complete faith that i can grow and thrive here in grand rapids, MI. the past few days i've been thinking about it more and more, wondering and wondering, and i haven't felt at complete peace yet...in fact, i've been more nervous than ever.

but you know what, God has faith in me... the great Gardener has planted me here, more or less for some time, because He knows it's where i can grow... His faith, in me... what more do i need?

so ya, that's what i've discovered.

a lot begins tomorrow, so i'm excited to tell you guys how it goes.

HooRoo