Grounded
In the last few years I have started doing more flower gardening. One of the first flowers I tried growing was a Gladiolus. I was drawn to the bright coral color on the package so I thought I would give them a try. They are not an easy flower to grow in Idaho. You have to wait until winter has passed to plant them and, unlike bulbs like tulips and daffodils, you have to dig them up before frost and plant them again the next year. But man, I love how they grow so tall and stately, how they bloom gradually up from the bottom, and I love love love the bright colors standing out against the rock on my house.
The variety I’ve been growing the last few years grows very tall - sometimes taller than me. (Admittedly, I’m not very tall, but it is still tall for a flower.) Ideally, in order for them to stay straight and tall, there is a point where you have to tie the stalk to a garden stake or they will begin to grow crooked. Summer gets busy, though. We travel or work on other projects and the flower bed gets neglected and then before I know what’s happening, the stalk has started to curve or tip over and then its almost impossible to get them to grow straight again.
So I’ve been thinking a lot about stakes.
Our tent has them too. And on this particular tent, without the stakes driven into the solid earth, there isn’t enough tension to pop the tent up at all. Without them, we have no shelter in the wilderness.
I have stakes in my life. They are those stabilizing forces that help me grow, provide both tension and stability, and keep me grounded. They are my people - the friends and family I choose to spend time with. They help me to course correct when I am off track, they remind me of what is important, and they help me to live my values. The most important stake to me is Jesus Christ. When I am tied to Him, I am sure to grow in a good and beautiful way. When I am anchored in to Him, I’m sure to have stability and safety from the storms.
Life has a way of distracting us and it’s easy to not pay attention. It’s easy to think you have plenty of time or even that it won’t matter. It matters. Set your stakes.