{"id":506,"date":"2018-08-03T10:32:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-03T15:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/i-will-not-just-survivei-will-thrive-in\/"},"modified":"2019-02-18T10:14:44","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T16:14:44","slug":"i-will-not-just-survivei-will-thrive-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=506","title":{"rendered":"I Will Not Just Survive\u2026.I Will Thrive in This Heat!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I moved into my home a year ago in April, and I continue to be surprised by the plants around my home that the previous owners left me: the gardenia bushes, the redbud tree, and my canna lily plants. A wise-and-more-in-tune-with-gardening person would have spotted these lovely plants when they first walked onto the grounds of this place, but this gal \u2013 who was missing a green thumb from the start, never gave them a second look \u2013 not until they were blooming. <\/p>\n

Initially, the canna lilies looked kaput, but when I looked out at my backyard yesterday, I was surprised to see them in full bloom, hence, my inspiration for today\u2019s post. Here’s what I found out about canna lilies: \u201cCanna lilies are beautiful, easy-to-grow plants that effortlessly bring a splash of the tropics to your garden. They\u2019re especially welcome to gardeners with very hot summers. Where other flowers shrivel and wilt, canna lilies thrive in the heat.\u201d Well, hello canna lilies, you are in the right place at the right time in this Texas heat. Other plants have died (check out my poor holly that is dead as a doornail because of the heat AND the fact that our water here in Frisco is rationed.) The heat causes those canna lilies to thrive.<\/p>\n

Here it comes. Another of my life analogies. I\u2019ve heard some cranky folks lately complaining about this Texas heat. I remind them \u201cHang in there. In a couple of months, the cooler temperatures will arrive and you\u2019ll thrive again!\u201d I laughed when I saw my Canadian cousin\u2019s FB post a couple of days ago. \u201cIt was a chilly night, but we still enjoyed eating outside and the kiddos thought the pool was nice and warm.\u201d I commented: \u201cLord, forgive me for longing for that cool weather! She replied: \u201cLord, forgive me for longing for that Texas heat!”<\/p>\n

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We can all relate to experiencing heat \u2013 both in the climate and in times of pressure when our “top is about to blow”, during a heated-up conversation or debate with someone or we\u2019re in hot water because of something we said or did. Are we like the canna lily and thrive with the heat or are we like my poor holly bush? What keeps us calm in the times of the storms that come as heat waves? What keeps us cool when the heat is on?
\nEleanor Roosevelt gave this quote about a woman, but I think it\u2019s applicable to men as well. \u201cA woman is like a tea bag \u2013 you can\u2019t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, that is so true. I\u2019ve seen women and men who rise and shine, who accelerate, who go to a whole new level in their faith and confidence and trust in God when they are under some of the direst circumstances. My husband had a quote on his desk that faced him every day \u201cIn the middle of adversity lies opportunity!\u201d That\u2019s how we can make it during the heat. We take it on with all-out fervor and say \u201cBring on the heat! I was made for this. God power-packed me to win and I will! I will come out of this heat and not even smell like smoke!\u201d <\/p>\n

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In Daniel 3:23-27 we hear about three Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who Nebuchadnezzar threw into the fiery furnace because they wouldn\u2019t bow down to his idol. Their trust was in the one true God. And, in the midst of the hottest heat ever, the Son of God showed up right there in the heat with them. And, that\u2019s the key for us when we\u2019re under pressure and the situation and adversity have over-heated us. Trusting in God in the midst of the heat. Daniel 3:27 concludes that story of the three Hebrews with these words: \u201cThen the officials, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke!!\u201d And that will be our story, too! As we wholly trust in God Who causes us to triumph and come out of our \u201cfurnace situations\u201d, we will survive and thrive like my canna lilies IN THE HEAT! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I moved into my home a year ago in April, and I continue to be surprised by the plants around my home that the previous owners left me: the gardenia bushes, the redbud tree, and my canna lily plants. A wise-and-more-in-tune-with-gardening person would have spotted these lovely plants when they first walked onto the grounds…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2026,2027,2028,2029,2030,2031,2032,2033,2034,2035,2036,2037,1307,2038,2039,2040],"class_list":["post-506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-3-hebrews","tag-bring-on-the-heat","tag-canna-lilly","tag-daniel-323-27","tag-didnt-smell-of-smoke","tag-east-to-grow","tag-eleanor-roosevelt","tag-green-thumb","tag-heat","tag-hot-water","tag-survive","tag-tea-bag","tag-texas-heat","tag-thrive","tag-tropics","tag-trusting-in-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8429,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions\/8429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}