Life is a Tree.....and it all starts here....

November 15, 2006
Expect Miracles

It all starts here....
Think of the power in this one little seed.......to start a whole tree that will grow thousands of apples in it's lifetime, each apple holding within it hundreds more trees.....

think of the power in this tiny little seed.
...I'll be back later to tell you what I think.

Ok...I am back...I am sitting in bed right now with my comfy blanket and my sweet hubby thinking about this whole thing...and, I have been thinking about it all day....all year, in fact....figuring out the miracle of an apple seed has been the story of my life for quite some time..... The miracle of seeds is really the specific blueprint that is in each seed....every seed has a specific plan built in to it before it ever starts to grow into whatever it is destined to grow into.....

If you planted an acorn....

you would never, ever, EVER get an apple tree.

......and, many a girl (including me) has spent hours and days and years trying to be an apple tree or an almond tree or a pine tree or a palm tree.........when she started out as an acorn.....and, IF ONLY she would figure it out, and then embrace it.......she could understand, enjoy and thrive at being a beautiful, strong, enduring oak tree, and she would bless so many and affect so much if she stopped wasting time trying to be something else....if she'd focus on growing into the blueprint in that acorn.....and if a girl who started out as an apple seed begs, pleads, studies & pays-for all sorts of lotions, potions and techniques to become an oak tree......she'll just spend her whole life frustrated AND waste a whole lot of beautiful apples, too.

WHY do we do this to ourselves?

Rhonda read some lines to me over the phone, from a great book...a month or so ago.....about finding your 'sweet spot'....and....what she read turned a belief that I've always had absolutely upside down....you see, I REALLY used to believe that you can choose whatever you want to be, however you want to be, whatever you want to do.....and then, if you work really hard, and stay really determined.... you can just go and do it......and be really phenomenal at it....BUT, through lots of trying and failing and disappointingly succeeding and even going on auto-pilot....it all became clear to me (I'll show you this book in a minute) the book says...."You can not be anything you want to be...but you can be everything God wants you to be..."

WOW....what? really?
yeh.
really. I mean, let's be honest....really. It's true.

I'm going to quote some more great stuff out of this book.....this is good stuff. This is the kind of stuff that makes you want to know FOR SURE what kind of seeds are planted in you, what kind of seed you are......what is YOUR blueprint.....but, we are people, we are God's children....so, we aren't just an oak tree that grows into other oak trees....we are each a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.....there will never be another one created like YOU...or ME....I am the only me, ever.....YOU are the ONLY you, ever.

wow.

"The Author of the human drama entrusted your part to you alone. Live your life, or it won't be lived. We need you to be you.

YOU need to be you.

You can't be your hero, your parent, or your big brother. You might imitate their golf swing or hair style, but you can't be them. You can only be you. All you have to give is what you've been given to give. Concentrate on who you are and what you have. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life."

"IF YOU AREN'T YOU, WE DON'T GET YOU...THE WORLD MISSES OUT."

and the back of the book says...

"God made only ONE version of you. He custom designed you for a one-of-a-kind assignment."

These are things that I believe...I KNOW this is true....I know it because I have been all over the place...near and far from where I am destined to be....near and far from my one-of-a-kind assignment...and, I've been around people who are THERE, and there is nothing like it in the whole world...nothing more exhilirating and freeing and beautiful than someone who knows, accepts and goes 100% into the custom-designed blueprint for WHO they really are........

...and the cool part is finding out that it's the stuff that makes you happiest, the stuff you are very best at, the stuff that makes your heart sing....the stuff that makes you "look at the sky and say...'I was born to do this'" Problem is.....too many of us feel guilty when we're doing things that make us this happy....when really, TRULY, what God wants most for us is that kind of happiness....that's why He made us this way, that's why He put those deepest desires into us.....to be creative, to express ourselves, to read about and study certain things, to help in ways that only we can....they are different for each one of us, and we really need to listen.

So...here's another great book.

"Cure For the Common Life" by Max Lucado
You will be so glad that you took the time to get this book and to read it.....it's good stuff...and I'm so glad that Mr. Lucado knows who he is enough to share his gifts....that's what it's all about....we need each other to get through life.....and we all have a different job to make it happen....and they're all so important......

Be exactly who you are....and be even more of that tomorrow......
You are just right.....

Lots of Love
melody

Comments

[Maureen]

Melody, Wow. I'm a huge fan of your products, all of them.

You are so on point. I really love what you're thinking and how you are thinking, and how God-centered you are. I love Max Lucado, too. I bought this book and how to find time to read it soon, the piles of books and magazines, often forms a blocade around my bedroom. I also didn't realize about your husband's health until reading through this blog. Not really understanding what you are facing, I will just pray for peace and happiness for your family. God Bless You.

[Angie Pedersen]

What a lightbulb moment -- trying to coax an apple tree out of an acorn. It just ain't gonna happen. I'm like you -- "if you work really hard, and stay really determined.... you can just go and do it." And like you, have found that's not always the case.

This was a great post. I shared bits of it on my blog: http://snipurl.com/13pev

Thanks for the inspiration!

[Tasra Dawson]

Love that book. Amazing ideas and inspiration inside its pages. So glad that it helped turn on the lightbulb for you as well! Happy Turkey Day!

[Julie Ann Shahin]

Excellent post! I so agree with all of it. I'm going to pass this on to all my friends!

[Johanna]

Oh, how I wish I could find my blueprint! It is a difficult thing, trying to figure out who God wants me to be. Guess, I'll have to put that book on my Christmas list. Thanks for all of your great words, and thanks to all of you who post and add your wonderful comments. They are inspiring as well.

I still have not received my book...I'm not giving up hope that it will be here before Thanksgiving though! I can't wait to read it and start getting those interviews!

By the way...how is everyone doing on their morning pages??

[Karrilee Aggett]

I am reading this book right now as well... LOVE IT! Love anything by Max... I've read them all and can recommend every last one of them! (And yes - the Kids books are CLASSICS in our house!)

So good... and so true... and in all the reality of it - so freeing!!!

Blessings,
~Karrilee~

[Rhonda Shaw]

Thanks Mel for posting about this amazing book we've been reading. It is the start of the revolution. I hope all the readers of this blog will spread the word...can you imagine a world with everyone in their sweet spot? Oh wait...that's heaven. Well, I hope everyone will bring us a little heaven on earth...and discover what's packed in the suitcase of your soul...start unpacking...discover your deepest dreams and desires. We can't wait to watch you become all that you were destined to be. Then you will hear yourself saying things like, "it's not fair that I get paid to do this...or I was born to do this...or I can't believe I am living my dream." This book is a study guide of yourself. Who you really are. Reading it and filling out the questionaire will be time well spent! "Just do it!"
Love,
Rhonda

[Julee]

Wow! How do you always know just the right things to say - at just the right times. "You can not be anything you want to be...but you can be everything God wants you to be..." This is exactly something that I've been struggling with recently... I've been trying to be something I THOUGHT that God wanted me to be - and having a VERY hard time that it wasn't happening. But maybe I need to accept that God wants me to be what I already am - not something that I want to be. Definitely something to ponder for a while. Thanks so much Melody!

[Karla]

LOVE MAx Lucado;s books! So glad Rhonda introduced you to this fabulous author who has a TRUE heart for the Lord!!

Blessings,
Karla

[courtney]

wow, that's awesome. I love Max Lucado but I haven't seen this book. I should check it out! Hope you're doing well! :)

PS - I used his children's books at my workshop this weekend! Everyone should read them!!

[Amy Nabors]

Max Lucado is a fantastic author. Have you read his children's books? They are amazing...my all time favorite chidren's books.

[sarah]

i simply love that book! i read it last spring while my husband was out to sea and it totally transformed my thinking...thanks for the gentle reminder to remember that i am what God has designed.

love and blessings,

[jenn]

Expect miracles! I love it! I need to believe it! I got your book today and I'm reading through it right now! :) Many thanks, can't wait to start!!!!!

[Beth]

I think of the miracle of life, too, Faith and how amazing it is that life is created from such small things.

I love the tree analogies. The part I struggle with the most is being patient enough to let the tree grow, to let it bend and sway and lose a few branches, and to not get discouraged that it will never bloom and grow into a tall, strong tree. I am a strong person and I have learned to "roll with the punches more" but I just don't have enough patience to let God and nature do their work on that tree! :) A future posting, perhaps, Mel? Thanks as always for your inspirational words!

[Faith]

Expect miracles - Your words of the seed remind me of the miracle of life. It amazes me every day how we came into this life - the true path we all take to be born. The miracles that surround us everyday. That's one of many reasons to be happy and feel blessed, just by being alive! If God should allow it, I hope to one day be blessed with a large family too. It all starts with tiny little seeds and miracles.

[shawnda]

I love the tree analogies. For some reason this Fall the trees have captivated me and I've been relating my life to the tree. How God lets us grow into something strong and beautiful, but with every season we expierence so many changes. This year I'm experiencing the Fall, where the leaves are being pushed off of me by the new growth that will happen after the cold and bitter Winter. Then in the Spring I know the sting of Winter was well worth it. Thank you for your words and thoughts and I can't wait to read today's conclusion.

[Carrie]

The power of something so tiny...like the seeds we plant in our children everyday and hope they blossom into incredible human beings who are a positive influence in this world :) That is what I thought of the second I read it. :)