Fearlessly Blooming

Fearlessly Blooming, a devotion by Deborah Hemstreet, writing as Dvora Elisheva 

It was one of those days where you wake up and are not quite sure where it will go. The air was cool with promise of warming up. By the time I left my congregation later in the morning it was air-conditioner hot. But getting into my house with most windows closed, it was a bit cooler. The day warmed up as I sat and read, and then proceeded to my office to get some writing done. Rain drops began falling in drips and drops, to stop. Mud splattered the cars with the cooler air. I still had to water my flowers—fearlessly blooming in the gloom of this cloudy mud-rain day.

Fearlessly blooming. That is what I want to do for my Lord and Savior Jesus. It really doesn’t matter where I am or what I do. I want to bloom for Him. In my friendships, my writing, my work, my recreation. And the wonderful thing about blooming in this way, is that there is always the promise of continuation—when you are a perennial.

Did you ever think of yourself as a perennial fearlessly blooming for Jesus—wherever you are? Washing dishes, cleaning toilets, or doing some highly respected professional job? The thing is, after the blossoms wither and fall, perennials patiently wait for the next season when it is time to bloom again. With the creator of the universe as our wonderful gardener, he knows the conditions needed to make us bloom fearlessly for him—in season and out.

I remember as a little girl, my father loved his perennials and his annuals. But one in particular was the Easter Lily. He had planted the bulb tenderly and always looked forward to its glorious blossom. Then, one year, after a heavy snowfall, he noticed an amazing thing. For some reason the lily had gotten confused. Was it because of the late timing of the snow? The proximity of the garden to our centrally heated house? I don’t know. I do know that the reporters visited our house and took pictures of our Easter Lily fearlessly blooming in the January snow.

May we all learn to blossom like the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley (Song of Songs 1:17), and may we hear our Lord whisper to us, “Like a lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the thorns” (Song of Songs 2:2).

 

(Peg note: I purchased the image to the left from dreamstime.com. It could very well be the lily in this story. What do you think, Dvora?)

 

Deborah (Shapiro) Hemstreet has spent more than half of her life in Israel. She has dual citizenship. Her father was a Jewish believer in Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew), her mother was a non-Jewish believer. Deborah likes to identify herself as a follower of Jesus—with no denominational affiliation other than a member of the Body of Christ.

Professionally, Deborah has been a nurse (LPN), and holds a BA in Special Education and an MA in Technical Communication. Currently she is the English Communications Specialist at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel—the largest hospital in northern Israel. She is actively involved in representing the hospital to the Christian community.

Deborah came to Israel in 1982, and other than for a brief period of time (2007–2011) has lived there ever since. She married for the first time in 2007 and relocated to the USA, she thought forever. However, God had different plans and in 2010 her husband Rich died, and in 2011 she returned to Israel to live.

Find Deborah / Dvora on the Internet:

• http://www.hope-challenged.com
• Email: dvora@hope-challenged.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DvoraElisheva
• Twitter (I don’t tweet much though): @DvoraElisheva (https://twitter.com/DvoraElisheva)