Two years and two weeks ago we had collectively made the resolve to bring my hubby home. We brought him home for one last time as he prepared himself for his forever Home. The hospital had connected us with the hospice facility that they usually utilized. It was a bittersweet day. He would finally be home with all of us. But it would not be for long. The Lord was already calling him Home to be with Him. Our family was all there to welcome their daddy and Bumpa home one last time when the ambulance pulled in the driveway. There was no “welcome home” sign…but it emanated from the hearts that greeted us with buckets of love… I will never forget that.
From the time that we arrived till Ed’s final going home, it was almost an entire week that God gave to us. During that time we literally watched the forest come alive. We had stationed ourselves in our favorite room of the house… the sunroom. It seemed like the perfect “headed to Heaven” room. God did not disappoint. In that week's time, we watched the trees sprout their buds… the buds opened and leaves emerged from their beauty. There were more birds than we had ever seen visiting our feeders. There were familiar faces in our feathered friends and newcomers that had never visited our deck before. Even the hummingbirds made an early appearance. It was so unusual. Flowers began their debut as well. The voices of the grandkids echoed in through the open windows as we basked in the sun that filled the room by day.
My oldest daughter noticed something that none of us had ever seen before. A flower. A white flower growing all along the trail that surrounded our house. A flower with three lovely, graceful, ruffled petals. It was stunning. She had noticed it had a familiar look to it and she made the connection that it was on the brochure from Faith Hospice. Trillium. At the time, I remember us thinking that it was so amazing… Divine, really… that it was the very same flower. At some point, I saw it as a confirmation that while my heart cried so oppositely… it was a sign of doing the right thing. I love and greatly desire when God confirms things to weary souls. It is just so assuring when these encounters happen along the way with anything we are going through. It is as if He is saying, “I am here.”
I never thought a whole lot about the trillium after that.
At the one year marker, our family was at a cabin in Tennessee so the thought of the trilliums was far from our minds…mostly. Our daughter had asked at one point if we had seen them. I told her that I had not noticed them but had been getting ready to leave and then we were gone during the entire growing season as it is a very short season that runs from late April to mid/late May.
So I made a point to check to see if the beautiful blossoms would show up this year. They sure did! And suddenly it became a thing again. You see, we have lived in this house for seven seasons now and we never saw the trillium until the year that we brought Ed home for the last time. And I don’t think it was because I just hadn’t noticed it because I spent many a spring on our trail clearing the leaves and debris from the fall and winter and making repairs here and there. I KNOW I would have seen these lovelies. But I had not.
Do you know what a miracle that is to us? It gets better. A friend recently posted an article on trillium flowers. I was shocked at some of the details. I was intrigued enough to do some of my own research. I found out that the species growing on our property is the Great White Trillium. It lives in deciduous woodlands…large shady ravines. Exactly where we found them. They bloom in the spring before the canopy of trees have full leaves. They thrive in this dappled sunlight in the spring. They are very slow at developing and, get this, they can take years to first bloom. Years! I have read anywhere from seven to eighteen years, depending on the species. And once they bloom, depending on the species…they can live up to 100 years. Our species lives up to 25 years…so I expect to continue seeing them every year for a very long time due to pollination.
Trillium is a member of the lily family. The lily symbolizes purity, innocence and rebirth. And I would go so far to say beauty as well;
“Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.” Matthew 6:28-29 NASB
The actual trillium flower represents recovery, beauty and purity. Intertwined with lilies they are! I would also like to suggest… the Trinity. Three bracts (leaves), three sepals, and three petals. Trilliums can also symbolize balance and transformation. Transformation, because as the flower ages it can change color. I would say that each of these things can point to different aspects of our Christian life. Trillium has been used for various purposes for generations. Because of their peaceful and delicate nature, they have sat atop grassy mounds of the graves of many soldiers. Also, for years, it has been used by midwives to aid during labor of bringing forth new life. The symbolism here is off the charts!
Representation with Scriptures:
Recovery: Hosea 2:14-15
Beauty: Isaiah 61:1-3
Purity: Philippians 4:8-9
Balance: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Transformation: II Corinthians 3:17-18
I am humbled and breathless at the might of God’s forethought once again. Oh how the Maker of ALL THINGS orchestrates everything exactly when we need them. My lips can't help but curve into a smile while sitting here once again watching the forest wake up. There is a green hue from the sunshine emitting its light down on this fresh, new canopy once again. It won’t be long before the trillium slumbers for another year…when He once again, makes all things new.
I have been doing a study on Lamentations recently and there was a question referring to Revelation 21 asking what blessings there will be in the new heaven and new earth. Verse 5 jumped out at me;
“And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold. I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’” NASB
Then there was another question that asked what our passage in Lamentations reveals to me about myself. This was my response;
“ We are sinners. Without God, we are weak and desolate. Our hearts are prone to wander… and yet, we become homesick. With God… we are covered by His blood. We are still sinners, but His love blood makes all things new.”
Orchestration continuation...
A couple Sundays ago, I had a few friends over to watch Jesus Revolution. If you haven’t seen it… I would suggest you do…it is a good movie. Anyway, one of my friends told me about a song she heard on the radio on the way over to my house…she said I needed to listen to it. So I did. "You Make All Things New" by Big Daddy Weave. It was on repeat all the next day… today too…lol. It is SOOOOO good for this season.
"I've heard You can take what's broken and make it whole again, well here's the pieces of my heart. What can You do with them? 'Cause I can't hold them all together anymore. You make all things new."
He is Still Good
I can’t explain how much goodness fills my soul when I have moments like what transpired over the last couple weeks in the midst of the hardest days of my year. God is so, so good to me. Even if. In fact, I had another blog I was working on but decided to set it aside for another day and write this one. That is how powerful all of these moments with Jesus were recently and I just had to share them with you! I think over the past two years, like Hosea mentions about Israel, my King has persuaded me and brought me into the wilderness. Yes, into. One might say that I was already in the wilderness because of loss… but no… He brought me into the wilderness and out of the miry pit which felt so much better than the desolation either Israel or I had been in because of loss. Further, He has repeatedly given kindness to me with His soft whispers while in that wilderness wandering. He has reconciled me to Himself... wooed me as a lover pursues the one that has caught their eye.
In Hosea chapter two, he mentions the Valley of Achor… which translated, is the “Valley of Trouble.” This valley is where Achan and his entire family were stoned to death. And yet Hosea calls it “a door of hope.” He mentions this to show that if such a terrible place can be transformed… so can Israel. So can I. So can you. He has given me a door of hope and replaced some lost vineyards in my heart through the simple gesture of some ruffled white flowers. What small thing will you notice as God pursues you? I pray I continue to allow Him to allure me with His tender ways and that my response will be “as in the days of her youth” when such heartache was an absent vapor somewhere on the far distant horizon, beyond my vision. This is my prayer for you too, friend.
TRAILBLAZING:
Take some time to read Hosea 2:14-23 and see what other gems you can find and hold onto in your own wandering. When I first read Hosea two, it really captured me and gave me pause to think on many of the words. Feel free to drop me a message by email or on FB sharing the verse(s) that stood out to you and why! I’d love to hear from you! And the next time you see any white flower… pause to think of the beauty that God has given to you and is doing in you!
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