If I listen to my emotions, I don’t really want to be HERE.

HERE is basically confined to my house, unless my husband takes me somewhere.

HERE is waking up in pain every day, but worse some days than others.

HERE is looking at all the things that need to be done around my house, and feeling frustration that I’m no longer physically able to do them.

HERE is not the set of circumstances I would have chosen, but HERE is where God has planted me.

So I have a choice. I can sit around and mope all day, or I can choose to bloom where God has planted me. The first choice will lead to discouragement.  The second to joy.

I choose to obey God’s Word. I choose to remember all the things I have to be thankful for, God’s gifts in the desert. I choose to focus on what I can do, not what I cannot do. I choose to bloom where I’m planted. I choose joy!

 “When troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” James 1:2 (NLT)

Since I was a child, I’ve heard the saying, “Bloom Where You’re Planted.” That seems to be the message I’m hearing from God today.

So what does it mean to BLOOOM where I currently walk? It means to be content where God has me and to do His will to the best of my ability. It means to stop focusing on all the things I can’t do and turn my eyes onto all the things I can do, not in my own strength but in the strength of the Lord.

• He has called me to use my writing to glorify Him. I can do that.   
• He has called me to write something every day. I can do that. 
• He has called me to do at least one blog post weekly. I can do that.  
• He has called me to give encouragement to the ladies in my #Write365 small group.  I can do that.
• And He has called me to receive encouragement from the ladies in #Write365 and God-living Girls. I can do that too.

In fact …