Embracing Summer
Well what a Summer 2018 is turning out to be!
I love sunshine and blue skies, windows and doors wide open to let the gentle breeze flow through; pottering in the garden and drinking long cool drinks on the patio. I thought that I would be leaving all that behind when we moved up to Scotland - but not this year. What a scorcher!
You would have thought in this prolonged heatwave that I would have been dipping my toes in the sea and slapping on the Factor 50 down at the beach every day, yet despite Barassie beach only being a 3 minute walk away, I have found utter peace and contentment staying here at Rosedale, our lovely new home.
The roses are all in full bloom and I thought my guesswork with labelling the roses had proved to be correct.
But identifying the roses was not as easy as I thought...David lifted them from our garden in Macclesfield last November, when they were nothing more than bare root stock. I wrote labels and put them in what I thought were the corresponding pots - however - now in flower I can see that I had got two labels mixed up. The elusive 'Brother Cadfael' was masquerading as 'You're Beautiful' and was failing to produce the peony like flowers...until today that is...
And then there is this stunning beauty...
I had no idea that David had brought this rose with us, but am so thankful that he did. It is a beautiful, highly scented climbing rose. This was a birthday gift from my mum many years ago (we have been searching old photographs to try and find out how old it is - so far all we have is that it is definitely pre 2005!)
Yet sadly after the first year of floral abundance it never again really reached its full potential.
- however, I think it has now found its happy place once again.
When writing blogs I have a habit of getting caught up in reading what other writers have to say about various things, usually totally unrelated to what I am writing about. This time however was different - and whilst verifying the rose names I came across this lovely quote by Paul Coelho
"The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change: Yet at each stage, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is."
and it got me thinking about things...
....so much so that I completely changed the direction of where I thought this blog was going....
I thought I was going to be giving you a snapshot into our summer holidays....hence the title and first picture - but not this time, I will save that for a later date....
for now I just felt I wanted to share some other thoughts with you.
I have just said that my 'rose with the unknown name' never really reached its full potential, and yet the above quote by Paul Coelho made me re-think.
That rose never lost its potential. Within it, at all times was contained its potential - it was just going through a process - and that process was change.
It flowered every year, but not to the same degree as the first year. The flowers were scarce and what few there were, were all far too high for me to enjoy. In my eyes, it wasn't reaching its full potential because it was visually disappointing and wasn't performing as expected.
Basically it had had its day and was only fit for the compost bin!
Did I dig it up? Did I transplant it? (I do have a habit of doing that).
No.
Surpisingly for me, I just left it . . . underperforming.
A bit like me at times I thought....How many times do I struggle to try and reach my full potential? At work, in the home, at church. Feeling like I have never quite made the grade, constantly comparing myself with others.
Yet then I take a reality check - is realising my potential based solely on my own efforts?
I have been reading quite a lot recently (and not my usual type of chic-lit books either - now there's a first!)
Dementia: Pathways to Hope by Louise Morse
It is faith that will take me where I have never gone before and it is faith that will equip me to do what I have never done before.
On reading a short article the other day I was reminded that I am worth more than the whole world in God's eyes. Where past failures, thoughts and opinions of others make you feel undervalued and 'under-performing' - God sees you differently. He sees the potential in you.
I was challenged to see myself the way He sees me.
Now reading about how God sees me - that was one thing, but then when Naomi (our middle daughter) on the same day posts on Instagram her 7 day challenge of viewing herself through God's eyes.
- Well to me that's what I like to call a God-incidence - and I have learnt that when that happens I need to sit up and take note!
So returning to the 'rose with the unknown name' -
I began to look back at it with different eyes. All those years (must be way more than 13 years at least!) of me waiting for it to 'perform' - however, it's potential was there all along. I just didn't see it.
Every year bees fed from the pollen rich stamens on the few flowers it produced. The scent was amazing and transported me back to my childhood, evoking happy memories of my dad in the garden. . . and yes it was alive - yes - at each stage, at each moment, it was perfectly all right as it was.
And now the 'rose with the unknown name' is here, with me in Scotland...both of us at a different stage, a different moment, and perfectly alright.
Are you striving to reach your full potential? Are you going through a season of change? of waiting? Do you feel like you too will never make the grade?
Then maybe you like me could alter the quote from Paul Coelho just slightly...
and in place of the rose, put yourself as God would see you. . .
"You are you from the time you were a seed to the time you die. Within you, at all times you contain your whole potential. You seem to be constantly in the process of change: Yet at each stage, at each moment, you are perfectly all right as you are."
I hope in some small way this blog has helped someone to see themselves through God's eyes and realise their potential.
I love sunshine and blue skies, windows and doors wide open to let the gentle breeze flow through; pottering in the garden and drinking long cool drinks on the patio. I thought that I would be leaving all that behind when we moved up to Scotland - but not this year. What a scorcher!
You would have thought in this prolonged heatwave that I would have been dipping my toes in the sea and slapping on the Factor 50 down at the beach every day, yet despite Barassie beach only being a 3 minute walk away, I have found utter peace and contentment staying here at Rosedale, our lovely new home.
The garden plants are doing well despite the intense heat, and I am quite happy with my random pick and mix selection of sale plants this year.
The roses are all in full bloom and I thought my guesswork with labelling the roses had proved to be correct.
 |
| Silver Anniversary |
 |
| 'You're beautiful' |
 |
| Gertrude Jekyll |
 |
| Brother Cadfael |
And then there is this stunning beauty...
 |
| The rose with the unknown name |
I had no idea that David had brought this rose with us, but am so thankful that he did. It is a beautiful, highly scented climbing rose. This was a birthday gift from my mum many years ago (we have been searching old photographs to try and find out how old it is - so far all we have is that it is definitely pre 2005!)
- however, I think it has now found its happy place once again.
Bought from Fryers Roses. I would love to find out what it is called. Part of me thinks it may well have been called 'Happy Birthday', but that seems a little obvious.
Any rose experts out there who can help?
When writing blogs I have a habit of getting caught up in reading what other writers have to say about various things, usually totally unrelated to what I am writing about. This time however was different - and whilst verifying the rose names I came across this lovely quote by Paul Coelho
"The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change: Yet at each stage, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is."
and it got me thinking about things...
....so much so that I completely changed the direction of where I thought this blog was going....
I thought I was going to be giving you a snapshot into our summer holidays....hence the title and first picture - but not this time, I will save that for a later date....
for now I just felt I wanted to share some other thoughts with you.
I have just said that my 'rose with the unknown name' never really reached its full potential, and yet the above quote by Paul Coelho made me re-think.
That rose never lost its potential. Within it, at all times was contained its potential - it was just going through a process - and that process was change.
It flowered every year, but not to the same degree as the first year. The flowers were scarce and what few there were, were all far too high for me to enjoy. In my eyes, it wasn't reaching its full potential because it was visually disappointing and wasn't performing as expected.
Did I dig it up? Did I transplant it? (I do have a habit of doing that).
No.
Surpisingly for me, I just left it . . . underperforming.
A bit like me at times I thought....How many times do I struggle to try and reach my full potential? At work, in the home, at church. Feeling like I have never quite made the grade, constantly comparing myself with others.
Yet then I take a reality check - is realising my potential based solely on my own efforts?
I have been reading quite a lot recently (and not my usual type of chic-lit books either - now there's a first!)
Through reading God's word alongside other books that I would usually give a wide berth to, I am slowly realising that my potential is all about how far I can go ... not alone, but with God.
It is faith that will take me where I have never gone before and it is faith that will equip me to do what I have never done before.
How do I know this?
Because my faith connects me with an all powerful God.
On reading a short article the other day I was reminded that I am worth more than the whole world in God's eyes. Where past failures, thoughts and opinions of others make you feel undervalued and 'under-performing' - God sees you differently. He sees the potential in you.
Now reading about how God sees me - that was one thing, but then when Naomi (our middle daughter) on the same day posts on Instagram her 7 day challenge of viewing herself through God's eyes.
So returning to the 'rose with the unknown name' -
I began to look back at it with different eyes. All those years (must be way more than 13 years at least!) of me waiting for it to 'perform' - however, it's potential was there all along. I just didn't see it.
Every year bees fed from the pollen rich stamens on the few flowers it produced. The scent was amazing and transported me back to my childhood, evoking happy memories of my dad in the garden. . . and yes it was alive - yes - at each stage, at each moment, it was perfectly all right as it was.
And now the 'rose with the unknown name' is here, with me in Scotland...both of us at a different stage, a different moment, and perfectly alright.
Are you striving to reach your full potential? Are you going through a season of change? of waiting? Do you feel like you too will never make the grade?
Then maybe you like me could alter the quote from Paul Coelho just slightly...
and in place of the rose, put yourself as God would see you. . .
"You are you from the time you were a seed to the time you die. Within you, at all times you contain your whole potential. You seem to be constantly in the process of change: Yet at each stage, at each moment, you are perfectly all right as you are."
I hope in some small way this blog has helped someone to see themselves through God's eyes and realise their potential.
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