Hola Mi Amor!

Hola Mi Amor y mi HMA familia!

¡¿Cómo estás?! Gloria a Dios I am back! This is my proof of life LOL Yes, it has definitely been a minute since my last post. I was laser focused on my creative assignment for Resurrection Sunday- aka our church’s Super Bowl! I’m extremely grateful to be able to now have space for other streams of creativity.

Let me just tell you my loves, this WOG right here has been both getting cut in the natural and the spiritual! Okay?! Well don’t get the wrong impression I don’t YET mean physically cut as in my body bodying lol but that is in progress- On Purpose! I’m talking bout getting STRETCHED, corrected, pruned…both forced and intentional growth praise God! And yes, some moments have been ugly, painful, irritating and even pleasurable, yet all of them necessary for me to continue becoming all that God has called, purposed, designed and ordained me to do. Hallelujah!

Hey if you’re new to my blog WELCOME!!! Those that know me or follow HolaMiAmor.blog know that I have a plant that preaches to me. She’s been preaching to me for over 3 years now and her name is Lilly. God always gives me a message or lessons through my ever growing and changing- FAITHFUL girls Lilly. Lil has lived with me in 3 homes and has been holding on for dear life with me since December here at my Daddy’s house. She was a birthday gift from my daughter Dyawna and today I told her that Lilly was the greatest gift she’s ever given me because God always uses her to speak to me. D also has a Lilly of her own birthed from the one she gifted me.

A lot of people hate to be cut- both literally, figuratively, emotionally, spiritually, professionally, but especially personally. Then there are others that for whatever reason, which can be many, enjoying being cut, receiving pain, inflicting pain or causing change.

Let’s look at Lilly. (To be clear, I have 3 and they all have the same name. They are Peace Lilies.) Through our transition I have not kept Lilly in my personal space. She’s been surviving downstairs only by the GRACE of God. I was not watering her regularly nor was she really getting much natural sunlight. Every time I left the house and passed her I’d say man, I need to water Lilly. And then other times I would literally type it in my phone notes on my to do list. As the days and weeks past Lilly’s leaves and stems began to wither, turn darker shades of green and brown and many parts of her completely dried out and died.

If only I had watered her! Yet, as she has for the last 3 years and 3 months, Lilly continued to grow and have life birthing from her neglected soil. I believe it truly is a miracle that she has survived the many near death occurrences. I believe that God continues to minister to me through her in ways I could never had imagined. I need Him like Lilly needs water. I feel like Love has kept her for me.

So today after taking time to water her, I sat on the couch as God whispered to me in that still small voice with one pot at a time placed before me. Pruning Lilly has always been therapeutic for me. At first it was hard and made me a bit anxious because I didn’t know what might happen when I removed the dead parts of her and peeled away the broken pieces of her. But over the years it’s become a joy, a peace and place of hope with the knowing that whatever I was doing for her or removing from her that it was to make her better, to cause her to be able to grow again- or more and become more fruitful than before. Sometimes it does make me sad to see that a part of her is missing, but the parts that still remain are vibrant, strong, beautiful and full of life.

There is purpose in the pruning. For me personally, I love to get dirty, it’s the big kid and country girl in me I guess. So when I am pruning 99% of the time I am only using my hands and my fingernails if I really need to. I want to actually feel what I’m touching, the pull of the stem, the tear of the leaf. Today there were some stubborn parts that I tried my best to remove to make Lilly better but couldn’t with my bare hands so I did grab a pair of scissors and made a couple snips.

I am in a season of my life where I am also being pruned. I praise God that the people around me haven’t looked at all of my flaw, shortcoming and growth opportunities and decided to simply throw me away like a seemingly overgrown and dying plant. I have people in my life that love me enough to prune the parts of me that need cutting away, to teach the space of me that are eager to grow and to continue loving and courage the tender parts of me that are yet thriving despite all that my life has taken them through.

It is truly by the grace of God that I am still here. It is God that has brought me through all of the storms, droughts, hurricanes and sunny days of my lifetime. It is God who speaks through my family, friends, beloved community and all those that continue to help me grow into the woman of God that I was created to be. God NEVER gives up on us and we shouldn’t give up on us either or let others around us that have been sent into our lives give up on themselves.

You are worth pruning! You are worth saving! You are worth investing time and love into! You are worthy of being cared for and nurtured in ways that will assist you in bringing forth the fruit that you were born to birth! You are worthy of being pruned with the same love and care that God Himself would use and does. God is not finished with you yet my loves. You have more fruit to bare. You have more seasons to see and more joy to bring to those around you through the beauty and gifts God has blessed you with.

If no one has told you yet today- I love you! I’m proud of you! I’m cheering you on! You’ve got this! You were fearfully and wonderfully made. You are more than enough. Don’t let the pruning of the pieces of you prompt you to pivot into a space of passivity, pessimism or staying in pride. Let’s let the pruning for purpose palpate the places of our heart, mind, soul and spirit that are awaiting the day we will peaceably and positively pursue all that God has for us on this side of heaven. Be encourage today and embrace the pruning because we will go from pruned to NEW!!!

Love & Blessings,

Jana M. Gamble

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