Time to Bloom by Christie Smith

There's a plant that sits in the window sill of my bedroom. It's a little plant that one of my kids brought home from school as a Mother's Day present, and for the most part, has maintained for the past couple of years without needing much. But lately, it has starting looking a little frail. I've made sure it has water, but not too much water...sun, but not too much sun. I just couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Nothing has changed in it's environment. The plant itself hasn't changed much these past two years either. It looks pretty much the same as the day my son gave it to me. So why all of a sudden has it started to wither? Then I remembered something I used to warn all my customers of when I worked at a garden center years ago..."make sure you replant that in a bigger pot once you get it home." You see, my little plant in the windowsill had become what they call "root bound." While it looked like nothing was really growing or changing with my plant, I couldn't see what was going on beneath the surface. On the outside it looked as if the plant hadn't done any growing when, in fact, it's roots had outgrown the pot in which it was planted. 
  
We sometimes can become root bound too. Just like the roots of my plant had become so tangled and crammed together, we cram so much stuff into our lives that it can cause us to stop thriving. Activities, schedules, plans, expectations...not to mention the worthless anxiety we cause with social media. We look fine on the outside. We're managing. But underneath, our souls are gasping for air. 

Unlike my leafy friend in the window, we can't just trade up to a bigger house to solve the problem. And adding hours into our days to allow time to just be still is out of the question. So what's the answer? How do we make extra room for our minds and souls?  Start by asking yourself what is it in your life that drains you...drains your time, your energy, your emotions. Is it something (or someone) you can limit in your life, or cut out all together? Maybe we need to learn to say "no" and stop taking on so much? Maybe our expectations of ourselves are too much? Maybe instead of perfection we could settle for just good enough? 

And as we make room for our roots to flourish we should also concentrate on what we allow to nourish us. Our souls are just like our bodies and need proper nutrition to be at their best. So what are you feeding your soul? Maybe it's time to loosen the soil of your root bound life and allow God room to move in and through you. 

It may have seemed as if nothing has been going on in your life. From the outside nothing has really changed. But God has been doing a work of growth in the unseen parts of your life. Now it's time to loosen the soil and allow your life to bloom.