Like a Well-Watered Garden

My Bacolod Garden

photo taken on March 30, 2016

The LORD will guide you continually,

And satisfy your soul in drought,

And strengthen your bones;

You shall be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

- Isaiah 58:11




All my springs are in you.
- Psalm 87:7

Today is the last day of March, and I can't let this day go by without my sharing some of my thoughts about how this month has been.

This year started off with much eager expectation in my heart. Towards the end of January, however, I was confronted with some news that threw me off-balance, so to speak.

I know that nothing takes God by surprise, and if He is my God, my King, and I am holding on to Him, then I should be all right. But believing it in my mind, and holding on to it as a tangible reality in my heart, are two different things.

And so the emotional-spiritual roller coaster ride began... and for the most part of March, I was on that ride, a journey described in my previous 2016 blog posts.

But before this month ends, I want to take another definite step away from the spinning wheel. It's time for a location statement.

In 1997 I had the privilege of sitting at the feet of Hans Burki, a Swiss life revision mentor in a remote village up in the Swiss Alps. For one full month we learned and practiced the spiritual disciplines of meditation and contemplation. It was from him that I learned the importance of making a location statement.

A location statement is a brief description of where you are or the circumstances you are in at the moment. This physical reality is often an indicator of our spiritual condition.

Making a location statement helps us come up with an honest assessment of our lives, and enables us to regain our spiritual moorings when we feel we are drifting off dangerously into turbulent open seas.

For the past several months, our province has been under a severe dry spell. High temps during the day, and dry air blowing. I find myself needing to wake up before dawn to water my garden before the scorching heat begins. In the mid afternoon, just an hour or two before sunset, I am back to watering the plants again.

It's a lot of effort, but the plants love the combination of hot sun during the day and enough moisture in their roots. And as the photo above shows, the flowers are blooming, with more buds coming out each day.

My garden has been receiving a lot of water in the midst of the drought, and my efforts have indeed paid off.

Like a well-watered garden. That is my location statement for this month. It is the cry of my heart and very well sums up what my life has been like the past two months.

This is where I am too -- in the middle of a spiritual drought.

Honestly, I have not been spending much time in God's presence these days. The desire, the intention, they are there. But I have been remiss. There is something holding me back, distracting me, keeping me away.

There's fear lurking in my heart, doubt, uncertainty... what if, what should have been... and so on, and so forth.

I know all the right things to think and say and pray, but these days I feel as if there is a huge disconnect between my mind and my spirit.

The spirit is where conscience, intuition, and communion with God originate.

The soul is the area of our persons where the mind, will, and emotions operate.

I realize that I have been living out of my soul these past months, instead of living out of my spirit.

Yes, my soul has very much been out of peace, that is as honest as I can get.

How badly I needed the life-giving, refreshing, nourishing waters of God's touch in the midst of the dry spell I am in.

On my birthday last Sunday, a major shift took place in my heart. It's a new year... the first day of the rest of my life!

I decided that I'm not going to sit by and watch my life drift to open seas. Something in me says, Decide to fight, because the victory has already been won.

And yes, that really is a strong, powerful word as I look forward to another year. To live my life and look at the circumstances from the standpoint of victory, and not defeat.

I had given the enemy much leeway these past weeks. Self-pity, discouragement, spiritual lethargy.

One day a tiny voice even whispered to me, You're burning out. You're running on empty. You have nothing left to give. You've used up all your spiritual resources. Your spiritual energy is zapped.

And I believed it big time.

Then gently, quietly, my Abba Father spoke reassuring words to me... Daughter, You are loved and cherished in the different seasons of your life.

And a deeper understanding flowed into my heart. We all go through seasons... there is a time to be wounded, there is a time to heal... a time to weep, and a time to laugh... a time to speak, and a time to be silent... a time to love, and a time to hate.

The seasons of our lives are essential to our growth as well.

The best thing to do is to embrace the season I am in, and still allow God to be glorified in my choices and in my responses.

Recently I was reminded of a beautiful story in the Bible that had been a source of encouragement to me in November 2006, when my husband Ernie had just suffered his first myocardial infarction.

That was a an all-time low in my married life, but I found great comfort in the book of Joshua.

In Joshua 14 is written the historical account of the conquest of Canaan. Caleb had asked Joshua for the hill country of Hebron. Now therefore give me this mountain, Caleb says in Joshua 14:12.

Caleb's story goes on. He got his mountain, and he drove out the giants from the territory.

In Joshua 15:16-19, we read this beautiful account of how he gave his daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who conquered Kiriath-Sepher, and the amazing request of Aksah of his father.

And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher." Othnielson of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage. 

One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?"

She replied, "Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water." So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

I have been thinking of that story the past days.

Give me also springs of water. It is my prayer for myself as I enter my 63rd year.

There is something rejuvenating about birthdays. I have no doubt that God intended it that way. Birthdays are milestones that mark the ending of one season and the start of another. A birthday is a signal to let bygones be bygones and start all over again. Like turning a new leaf. A birthday is a new beginning, the start of another journey.

And that is exactly what my 63rd birthday signifies for me.


Photos from my 63rd birthday celebration:

 Family lunch at Kai Sei 

with first two grandsons Forerunner and Full of Hope

Four grandchildren Forerunner, Full of Hope/Mighty Warrior, Joyful One, Peaceful One

breakfast at L Fisher with First Born the day after my birthday

 lunch with my FFI ministry team family on March 29

a birthday cake for me and Mayang, the March celebrants

My birthday prayer:

I want to be like a well-watered garden this year, Lord. In the midst of my dry season, I am asking you to give me also springs of water. That I may flourish and bloom where I am planted, no matter what my current circumstances are like. I refuse to let fear sit on the throne of my life. Father, will You come and water the garden of my heart with your life-giving water. This is my earnest plea, and I thank You in advance Your grace and Your favor.