You are listening to episode 33, Titled- Are you growing?
Hey you guys! This is Kelsie Millet and I am your host here on the Let Him In Podcast, where
my intent is to have these episodes full of thoughts, impressions and ways for you to easily let God into your every day.
If I was able to invite each one of you over to my house and you were able to walk through each of the rooms you would quickly notice one thing about me, and that is that I love indoor plants. What started out as a small collection has now over the last couple of years grown to about 50 or so indoor plants.
I have killed my fair share, but am actually quite proud of keeping so many plants alive while also keeping 5 kids alive. I have learned a lot about indoor plants, and have also realized how they grow in a pot is so different from how they naturally grow outside.
Typically when you buy an indoor plant it comes in what’s called a grow pot. I have found that it is best to keep my plants in these grow pots for as long as possible. They typically have lots of room to grow into them and they make it easy to water and have water drain.
I want to share three different situations I have seen and have learned from watching how my plants have grown or not grown.
First, I have some plants that are simply just loving life, they love their pot they are in, the natural light and water they are getting is just serving them well. Their growth isn’t rapid, but they are continually growing in height or with new leaves.
The second type of plants in my home I have noticed outgrow their pots really quickly and they need to be moved into something bigger for them to keep growing. If I don’t move them, and replant them into something larger their growth quickly stops and the progress and growth they were making so easily and suddenly is gone. These plants don’t die, but I know that they aren’t reaching their potential as quickly as they could, simply because I am too lazy to take the time and energy it takes to move them into a bigger pot.
The third situation I learned from one of my ficus trees. I love a good ficus tree, and in one weekend I ended up buying three different ficus trees, each one from different people on Facebook Marketplace. This one tree in particular came in a massive, massive pot. It was this gorgeous ceramic pot, that I’m sure was an extremely expensive pot. It made the tree itself so heavy to lift and move that we had to put it on an actual rolling cart to be able to move it anywhere.
With my husband’s help we got it all situated in the corner of our bedroom and it was stunning. I loved it. My other two ficus trees I got were also beautiful and between all three of my new trees, they were roughly all the same size. But the two planted not in the gorgeous ceramic pot where both potted in an extremely smaller pot in comparison to this large ceramic one. I mention this detail because after about a month and a half, so not immediately, I noticed the ficus tree in my bedroom was not doing well. It was actually starting to die. I at first couldn’t figure out why. It seemed to have the same amount of natural light as my other two ficus trees. It was on the same watering schedule, with about the same amount of water, all were moved from a previous environment and were all adjusting to my house during the same time. So the fact that this one in my bedroom was dying had me puzzled.
I finally thought that it had to be the pot size. It was the only thing that was different. I would have thought a really large pot would have been great for the tree to grow into, but this pot was just way too big. I found a smaller pot similar in size to the other ones my ficus trees were happy in and replanted it. Within a couple weeks my bedroom ficus had completely changed. Its leaves were a healthy green again. It wasn’t losing leaves like it was before, and it even started growing new leaves.
So now let me explain what each of these different situations have taught me and I want you to think about where you fit in. Which one of these situations represents where you are at best.
We all have the opportunity for growth in this life. But, that growth can be hindered or strengthened.
Are you like the first plants I described where your growth is going well and you are happy in your “growth pot”? You are healthy, growing new leaves, your water is draining well. This would be the ideal situation. We have room to grow, we have found a good light source, we are on a great watering schedule.
We are finding a rhythm in adding God into our everyday through prayer and scripture study. We are truly growing our own light and testimony. We know that our soul takes nourishment and attention for growth and continually look for ways to make that happen. Does this sound like you?
Or maybe you fall into the second category. Where you have grown, maybe even rapidly grown. But then your growth has been stalled simply because you haven’t been replanted into a bigger pot. If I am being honest this is where I think a majority of us often find ourselves. Why reach for more if we are comfortable where we are at? Growth is oftentimes uncomfortable, and putting ourselves in uncomfortable situations on purpose is not something most of us humans are good at naturally.
Those of us in this type of scenario may find ourselves simply just comfortable in our routine we already have. We aren’t looking for more growth opportunities. We aren’t testing ourselves to become more. We simply are just living. A lot of times we are still doing good. But we are not doing or becoming our best. If this is you, I would challenge you to pray and ask- what is it that I can cut out of my life to become more? Or what can I add to my life to grow closer to God and the Savior? These answers are going to look different for each of us individually, so I think it is important to have these check in type conversations with God every so often to continue our growth.
Ok, so maybe you don’t feel like either of those situations fit you. Maybe it is the third situation where we are so excited about growth that we plant ourselves in an extremely large pot. Which ends up really hurting us rather than helping us. This could look like taking on way more than we should at one given time, spreading ourselves SO thin that we end up just shutting down. We can find ourselves in this type of situation with all of the right intentions and excitement of growth and becoming more. But, we need to remember that a tree doesn’t just grow overnight. It is gradual. It is also very intentional. Plants are so smart with how they grow, they know just how much sun they need, how much water to sustain them. It’s actually amazing to observe how plants grow. I have learned so much from my indoor plants. I know I sound like such a nerd. But I really have learned so much. You can learn a lot from a plant.
“The scriptures use plants as metaphors for spiritual growth. Think of Alma the Younger, who taught about planting and nurturing a seed in our hearts.1 Or Jesus Christ, who compared seeds to the word of God.2”
The basics of what a plant does is find nourishment. Grow. repeat. Find nourishment. Grow. repeat. And I think as simple as that is, it is also so profound. We each need to make it that simple. Find nourishment through prayer, scriptures, journaling, spending quality time with those that uplift us, etc. By doing those things we will end up growing.
For today’s thought: I would have you think about these three spiritual connections in regards to plants.
1. Learn how to care for your plant.
- Connection: Where can you get reliable information about how best to care for your body and spirit?
2. Make sure your plant gets the right amount of light.
- Connection: What kind of light does your body need? (Think sun.) What kind of Light does your spirit need? (Think Son.)
3. Give your plant the right amount of water.
- Connection: Why is water important to your body? Why is Jesus Christ, the Living Water, important to your soul?
Now would be the perfect time to pull out your Hear Him Journal and continue in more stillness, an open mind and a desire to connect with God.
Love you guys!
References:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/inspiration/you-can-learn-a-lot-from-a-plant?lang=eng
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