repotting season

I was scrolling on Threads on July 22 of this year and I came across this quote from Elevated Faith, "Bloom where God plants you." I couldn't help myself, I had to respond. Well, then I felt inspired so I elaborated on my sentiments in an Instagram post. Now, it's made its way to the blog and in #SimplyThoughts fashion, I want to expound on it some more.

"and be not afraid when he tells you it's time to be repotted🌱"

🌱Too often we stay where we were originally planted and experienced our first bloom. Our loyalty to where we were planted instead of to who planted us, can cause us to ignore the signs that we’ve outgrown our original state.

I believe that God will tell us when it’s time to be repotted and where it will take place. We must take heed when he speaks.

[ A plant outgrowing the pot it was planted in 🪴does not negate the fact that it was originally planted there. 🌱I am no longer planted in the soil that nourished my roots, allowed me to grow and bloom, but it is forever a part of my DNA. 🪴I’ll never forget that. ]

🌱The same God who planted you, is the same God who will tell you when it’s time to move on in order to continue your bloom. When we’re rooted in him, he will cause us to bloom no matter where he tells us to go. Where he leads, we will follow.

As my sister Kim Walker-Smith sang, "Where you go l go, what you say I say, God"

Reminds me of Abraham, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭8‬ ‭KJV‬‬

🌱Just know, at some point God will always require us to go into the unknown. Don’t fight it. Yield to his plan and in his time, you will bloom because he has planted you.

Throughout life, I've been uprooted and repotted many times.

Moving from Germany to Texas at the age of 14 was devastating for me. I was born and raised in Germany and I although I am an American, I had never lived in America before our family relocated. That's the irony of being the daughter of two veterans who met, married and had a baby overseas. So, I am a black American woman who was born in Germany and raised in European culture for the first 14 years of my life. I miss it dearly, I'd like to add.

And yes, before moving, I visited different states but I honestly never thought that I'd live here. Growing up, I didn't imagine, let alone desire to live in the U.S. I had friends and family who lived here and I enjoyed seeing them once or twice a year and then going back home to Germany where my life was. So moving to Texas in June 2006, was a major life change for me and my family.

It was a major repotting to say the least. It took me a while to get used to life here (sometimes I still feel like I'm adjusting). My first year here was rough, from learning the education system (which was behind compared to where I came from), to culture, the climate and being in an environment that lacked the diversity that shaped me and was accustomed to. I desperately wanted to go home. At some point, I remember my dad telling me that this was my home now and it was time for me to accept it. I've lived in the States for 17 years and I still don't consider America or Texas to be my home. I'm grateful to be here and I love the life I have been blessed to have here and (not but) AND this still isn't home for me.

Throughout time, I have grown to see and understand that the timing in which we moved here was perfect. I didn't want to move and I didn't like that we had to, but I now know that it was necessary for my growth and development into adulthood to do so.

From my high school to undergraduate and on to graduate studies, it was evident that I was right where I was supposed to be. If my life would have gone the way I wanted it to go as a child, I know that I would not be who I am or where I am today. As uncomfortable as it was, that move was a necessary repotting for my life.

Now, we all know that I had no choice but to move with my family, right? I mean c'mon, that repotting was out of my control. When I got to the age of being able to make my own decisions, I've learned to hear the voice of God for myself and to yield to him when he gives me instruction and direction for my life.

Growing up, I relied mainly on the voice of my dad to lead and guide my life and to impart the wisdom needed in each season of my life. I am grateful to have a father who I can depend on, to not only do but to say what he feels is best for my life. At some point, his voice became second to God's and God became the main one I began to seek after.

In learning to lean and depend on God, my heavenly father more than my earthly father, it caused our relationship to shift. My dad had to come into the understanding and accept that I had to make my own decisions in life and his role wasn't to control the outcome of situations or protect me from the terrible things that could happen in life. His role became more of a supportive or coach stance to help me as needed along the way, whether or not I fail or succeed. Whether or not he agreed or disagreed with the decisions I made. [ I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must have been for him to transition to this as I grew up. ]

I mention this because I know that we all have people in our lives who we hold dear to us. Whose judgement, wisdom, advice and correction we value and always take into consideration. For me, that person has always been my dad. Throughout life's transitions, changes, uprooting and repotting, my dad has been one of, if not the only person who has consistently been with me through it all. However, when growing closer to God, I have learned that sometimes what he tells me to do is not going to make sense to even to the wisest person I know. I told God that whatever he wanted me to do, I'll do it, even if it doesn't make sense, as long as he's with me, I'll obey.

I remember when God told me to leave the church I was born and raised in and to join another church. It was repotting season for me and to be honest, I felt it coming but I was devastated, excited and deeply conflicted about it. See, I was born and raised in this church organization and the one thing that I knew for certain was that I would grow up, marry, have children, grandchildren and die in this church. Well, I thought I knew that for certain. Departing from this ministry was a major curve ball in my life.

From birth until 4 days before my 29th birthday, this ministry was my life. It laid the spiritual foundation for my life. I am who I am spiritually because of what I was taught there. Like I said, "🌱I am no longer planted in the soil that nourished my roots, allowed me to grow and bloom, but it is forever a part of my DNA." I learned who God is, who Jesus is and received the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues at the age of 5 in this ministry (I remember this day like it was yesterday). I learned how to read the Bible and how to study it, in this ministry. I was baptized twice (once as a kid and again as a teenager), preached my first sermon and was blessed to travel throughout Europe to preach and sing in this ministry.

I was blessed to be a woman in leadership at a very young age. I became an exhorter at 16, minister at 18, co-pastor at 21 and pastor at 26. It was all I knew. It was all I ever wanted to know and do in life. I did not see a life beyond what I was raised to do.

Yet, by age 27 I felt a pull to leave. I was ashamed because I felt like something had to be wrong with me. I felt frustrated, uncomfortable and out of place and I remember telling God, "there must be more you have for me to do, there must be more."

God led me to move to Georgia during this time and once I was there, before my 29th birthday, he showed me where I was going to start afresh (in a new church). This repotting required me to move back to Texas. This move was my second in the time span of a year and a half.

My decision to join a new church was made with much prayer and fasting. It was a decision that I had to make for myself and by myself. Just me and God. I didn't consult my dad (or anyone else) on this decision because I knew what I needed to do. I didn't need confirmation or validation from anyone with this decision. God was calling me to be replanted in new soil and I had to be obedient. I had to venture out into the unknown. It didn't and probably still doesn't make sense to those I grew up with and vowed to remain in my home church with. We were taught to believe that if we left the church then we were backsliders or we were no longer in the will of God. Yet, God's will is what led me to be repotted.

This is why I believe it is important to have a relationship with God for yourself and to hear from him for yourself. Wise counsel is needed and valuable and it does not replace what God has told you to do. If he speaks directly to you about something, your obedience is required whether or not a prophet or someone you trust spiritually confirms it. God spoke to me once and told me to join this new church. I heard his voice as clear as day and as time went on, he confirmed what he spoke to me.

Once I moved, it became apparent that although I thought I was here to be a part of and serve in another ministry (which I did), it was really to meet my husband. My obedience to leave the known for the unknown led me to marry the love of my life. Even now, I know that I am right where I am supposed to be. I have that assurance in God.

So if I remained loyal to the life and environment I was raised in, then I wouldn't be who I am and where I am today! That is why at the beginning of this piece, I said, "Our loyalty to where we were planted instead of who planted us, can cause us to ignore the signs that we’ve outgrown our original state."

"Life is constantly changing, rearranging." - SpokenFroFlo

Growth is normal. Change is normal. If we do not change in life, are we really growing? If we don't change, are we even living?

Change is oftentimes uncomfortable and that's why we might view it as bad or become afraid of change.

Change isn't always a bad thing, I think it's rarely a bad thing, especially if we're learning who we are in the process.

While learning who we are, we can also learn who God is to us. Sometimes our learning requires us to unlearn who we thought we were. This is vital in the repotting season. Ultimately, life's transitions require us to move from the familiar to the unfamiliar. From the known into the unknown.

Sometimes that process is ugly, uncomfortable, unpleasant and dirty - like a plant that has outgrown the pot it was planted in. I do not mind the repotting season, as long as I am rooted and grounded in God and his plan for my life.

Godspeed

SimplyAriRenee