Hey baby it's cold outside...but you can still "bloom in winter"!

My husband and I get tickled every time we walk up the porch or look out the window at my planter filled with Annuals.  Here's the back story...we planted two trays of these same annuals back in the spring.  I put some in planters and some around the mail box in an attempt to go all out with the curb appeal.  We watered them everyday, twice a day.  I added soil, took soil away and....they died!  They all died.  I took up the carnage around the mailbox and put it in another planter so as not to throw away all the soil that might be used at a later date.  Well, we went about our business and basically forgot all about the soil in the planters until just a couple of months ago.  It started blooming some beautiful white and pink flowers and hasn't stopped.  I mean....this one planter that looked to be merely dirt and flecks of grass mixed in has turned into a small winter pleasure.  And when Dale said "I'm rooting for it", it got me to thinking.  We sometimes bloom late in life but it's never to late to blossom!

If you've had a late start in life, don't be discouraged.  You could be a late bloomer with the potential to take off and surprise many....not to mention bring them sheer joy because of your success.  I see it all the time with my single girlfriends who, not unlike myself, waited later in life to get married and possibly start a family.  Sometimes it takes a while to get there, but continue to "yet hold on" because, like my flower, you could run out of the gate and not stop.  I kid with my 28 and 25 year old nieces all the time that they could meet the man of the dreams, date him, get to know him, fall in love and marry him within 9 months to a year... so....2012 could be their "bloom in winter". 

I majored in Biology in college with dreams of being a doctor. The funny thing is.... when asked my senior year of high school what I saw myself doing in ten  years, I said Peter Jennings' job (of course back then I had no idea that you don't just get to do that job).  I went through countless hours and dollars in the name of biology only to "bloom in winter" as a journalist.  I was scared to do what I really wanted to do and chose the option of what I thought would make others happy. At any rate, once I started blooming, I kept growing.  

Run your race with endurance!  If you haven't started running....get started! 

If you don't believe you can run....HEAR ME WHEN I SAY... YOU CAN!

My word for the first quarter of the year is surrender (yep, I'm only planning to need three months to get it :o)  

I'm surrendering to God to fully reach my potential and purpose.  Hopefully, we're all pursuing God's will in an effort to attain love, peace and joy.  The parallel is to do the things that make us WHOLE while we're on the journey.  If you've been hesitant or lackadaisical or outright scared.... or maybe you....like my flower....have people in your life who've given up on you or think you're growth potential is dead...if you do, then know that even though it's cold outside, you can still "bloom in winter"!

EXPECT MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER THINK OR IMAGINE!