This has been a GREAT year for hydrangeas.  You know, those bushes that have large snowball-like flowers that bloom either blue, pink, or purple depending on the soil acidity?  Pam has wanted hydrangeas for years, but down in Virginia the soil was so poor and the summers so hot, that I could never seem to get one started.  So, when we purchased our home in Pennsylvania, an added bonus was the well-established hydrangea bushes.  The flowers have been so spectacular this year that Pam has cut several bouquets for us to enjoy all around the house.

Last week marked the second week since Christel return to the office after a lengthy absence as she recovered from knee surgery.  Christel is my administrative assistant, our receptionist and office manager. It has been SO good to have her back!  So, just to do something a little special, Pam snipped a fine bouquet of hydrangeas and last Wednesday after prayer group, we put them artfully displayed on her desk.  I was looking forward to her reaction the next day.

On Thursday morning, I came into the office suite and there was no Christel!  The office was closed, and the lights were off.  I had momentarily forgotten that Christel had a scheduled vacation with family for Thursday and Friday and wouldn’t be in until Monday.  And there, locked in her office sitting on her desk were the flowers.

On Monday, a sad, shriveled, dying bouquet of flowers greeted Christel as she started out her week.  She was gracious, of course, and we had a good laugh.  She salvaged what she could and just today threw out the last two blooms. But lesson learned- cut flowers don’t last.

Jesus said:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers….” John 15:5-6

Sometimes I get really tired of life. I find my patience wearing thin and my capacity for ministry diminishes. Simple things become hard and everything feels like a grind.  I want to withdraw from people and just stay home and watch TV. Or I catch myself mindlessly scroll through page after page of worthless drivel on my phone.  I can feel my soul shriveling inside.  And I know I’m not alone in this.  You may have different set of distractions, but the result is the same- your productivity tanks, attention span is shot, and you just feel dead (or dying) inside.

What’s happening?  You’re a cut flower.  You’re functioning without Jesus as your source of life. Like a bloom severed from the plant and robbed of precious nutrients, we begin to wither, first inside, but then outside.

I’m all for recreation and vacations and downtime and proper time management. Please engage in selfcare and draw proper boundaries with life-draining people.  You may even need to connect with a mentor to help you learn new habits and strategies. But more important than all of that is connecting with Jesus.  We need to walk day by day, moment by moment attached to the vine- dependent on him and drawing strength from that well that never runs dry.  And we need to be convinced that what Jesus says is absolutely true- “without me you can do nothing.” That’s a humbling thought.

I am convinced that most of us are spiritually dehydrated and suffering for it.  Without connecting to the vine and finding our life in Jesus, it is impossible to live the Christian life.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13