Buds and Blossoms--By Linda Kozar

The June 7th entry from Babes With A Beatitude--Devotions For Smart, Savvy Women of Faith (2009 Howard/Simon & Schuster). Buy it on Amazon!

The first cactus bloom of the season. There are twelve more buds in the queue!

I have a beautiful six-foot-tall potted cactus on my patio, and once a year--only once a year--it blooms. The blossoms are lovely. I wait all year to see them.

Last spring, I noticed a few new buds and waited patiently for them to open. I checked on them constantly, glancing out the window, hoping to see those beautiful flowers fan open. But later in the day, I froze in disbelief. The buds were gone!

I went outside to investigate. And there they were--two large green buds on the patio beneath the cactus. And a few feet away, my husband, a sheepish grin on his face explained. "Sorry, I was doing the lawn and I accidentally brushed against them and they just fell off."

My precious buds, the ones I'd waited all year for, would never open into the blossoms I longed to see. I sighed. . .

Sometimes our hopes and dreams are cut off as quickly as the blooms on that cactus. 

If your dreams seem to have been brushed away by circumstances out of your control, trust that God has a better plan for your life. Bring to your remembrance all the many times God moved mightily on your behalf, to accomplish the dreams that blessed you and brought you peace, joy and happiness. Your dreams might be on hold for now, but rest assured, God will help you achieve those dreams in time. 

And there will be other "blossoms"just as lovely, if not more so!

Note: Since that disappointment, the cactus has grown exponentially into ten cactuses! Though the blossoms come but once a year, the cactuses are full of them. I have more flowers to admire than ever before. A proliferation of loveliness I never imagined possible. Our dreams are so much smaller than God's.

~  ~  ~

Linda Kozar is the co-author of Babes With A Beatitude—Devotions For Smart, Savvy Women of Faith (Hardcover/Ebook, Howard/Simon & Schuster 2009) and author of Misfortune Cookies (Print, Barbour Publishing 2008), Misfortune Cookies, A Tisket, A Casket, and Dead As A Doornail, (“When The Fat Ladies Sing Series,” eBooks, Spyglass Lane Mysteries, 2012). Strands of Fate released October 2012 (Hardcover/Ebook, Creative Woman Mysteries) and her nonfiction title, Moving Tales, Adventures in Relocation, released in 2013 (Indie-Published). She received the ACFW Mentor of the Year Award in 2007, founded and served as president of Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas ACFW chapter for three years. In 2003, she co-founded, co-directed and later served as Southwest Texas Director of Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild.

In addition to writing Linda is Lead Host of the Gate Beautiful Radio Show, part of the Red River Network on Blog Talk Radio—interviewing Christian authors from Debut to Bestselling, airing the 3^rd Thursday of every month. She and her husband Michael, married 24 years, have two lovely daughters, Katie and Lauren and a Rat Terrier princess named Patches.

Represented by: Wendy Lawton, Books & Such Literary Agency

Member of: CAN (Christian Authors Network), RWA (Romance Writers of American), WHRWA (West Houston Romance Writers of America), ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers), Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas Chapter of ACFW, Toastmasters (Area 56) The Woodlands, Texas, The Woodlands Church, The Woodlands, TX.

Linda’s Website:  http://www.lindakozar.com

Gate Beautiful Radio Show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/search?q=gate-beautiful

Babes With A Beatitude: http://www.babeswithabeatitude.blogspot.com

Bookish Desires: http://bookishdesires.blogspot.com

Cozy Mystery Magazine: http://cozymysterymagazine.blogspot.com

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