Morning Glories and Grace

Sarah and I planted Morning Glory seeds this summer near a trellis we made with bamboo poles and twine.  I had no idea how much I would fall in love with these beautiful flowers.  The seed packet must have had a mix of colors, because we are now finding flowers of about six different shades of pink, white, and purple. They are just gorgeous!

And isn't it just like the Lord to teach me more truths about Himself through my garden?

I watch these beautiful flowers bloom every morning, and they only bloom for that day.  By the end of the day, they are faded and wrinkled.  They shine gloriously, and then fade as evening comes.

But then the next morning, more blooms have appeared, and I get to enjoy them all over again.  I have come to love opening the curtains every morning just to see the lovely, bright flowers with their faces turned toward the sun.

At night you can see the next day's flowers tightly wrapped in the calyx, just waiting to burst forth into bloom, but then they are new flowers the next morning, repeating the cycle once again.

As I looked at them this morning, the Lord brought my mind to the mercy that is new every morning.  His mercy is given for that moment-- for that day-- and I move through the hours that are filled with activity, responsibility, and sometimes great trial.  By the end of my day, I am faded and shriveled and used up, and I crawl into bed praying for much-needed rest and new mercies for the next day.

And those mercies are always there-- those mercies that come fresh and new and bursting with life-giving beauty.

This morning that mercy came in the form of a realization that God's glory is stamped on even the smallest things.  Those flowers are reminders that grace flows down.  They are reminders that even tiny things like Morning Glories, with their short, insignificant little lives, glorify God perfectly by pointing to the Creator who fills me up and gives me the strength to bloom where I'm planted, with my face turned toward the Son.

I think that for the rest of my life, I'll always wonder if this is why they are called "Morning Glories".