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| What are these? |
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into marvellous light:" 1 Peter 2:9
Last summer, a friend brought me some flowers. She had been working in her garden and had to separate some of her plants. At the time, they were just plants without flowers, and though I seem to remember her telling me their names, by the time I got to planting them I had forgotten. The best I could do was to put similar-looking plants together.
The flowers in the picture above are on one of those plants. And I have no idea what these are! They're at least as tall as I am (no great feat, but still!) and have these really cool purple flowers with "things" springing out of the top. They aren't like any other flowers I've seen.
Sometimes, I think our family looks just as strange to others. Maybe not bad, but different. We don't always do things the same way as everyone else. We homeschool our kids. We go to church every Sunday. We drive many miles so Rory can play in a baseball league that has an award for the most Christ-like player, instead of playing with the town league. We do without some things that other families have so I can stay home with the kids instead of going to work somewhere. We avoid books and movies dealing with vampires and zombies. Now we have a whole new grocery list, and don't eat at McDonalds because there's nothing there Rory can eat. People probably don't know what to make of us.
This is a little hard for my nine-year-old. He's taken some flack, even from other homeschooled kids, because of his "differentness." As his parents, we know we look odd, but will deal with the crazy looks because we're doing what we feel is best for our family. It helps to remember that people looked at Jesus a little strangely, also. They couldn't figure out why he did things the way he did them, so he was ridiculed and belittled. The religious leaders didn't like what he said, so he was marked for execution.
As Christians, we are not meant to be like everyone else.
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:1-2
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into marvellous light:" 1 Peter 2:9
I don't know if I'll ever figure out what those flowers are (though if you know, please enlighten me!) But I will enjoy them for what they are, and not lament that they are not a daisy or a rose, just as I enjoy our family for who we are, and don't lament that we look different than other families. And at the same time, I can accept other families for what they are, even if they look different from us.
"If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." Romans 12:18
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| Lessons From Ivy |
Robin, they are bee balm or as the purple ones are called, Monarda fistulosa or wild bergamot. I had those in our house in Dover and Martha gave me some of hers here. Mine are red but they do come in different colors.
ReplyDeleteThanks Terri! I knew someone would recognize them :)
ReplyDeleteThose are lovely flowers. I have always felt like a 'peculiar' person. I don't think my boys felt that until they got to be a bit older and people pointed these things out to them.
ReplyDeleteNow that they are older they have chosen to express themselves in what they seem is 'normal' but even that goes in phases and they try find who God has created them to be.