Moving to a new place, with faith

We recently moved to a remarkably different place - it is slower than the city, further

removed from the hustle and bustle, and a lot quieter. As you can imagine, being in this new

environment as a writer working from home means that I spend a lot of time alone with my

thoughts. It has been a more difficult transition than I anticipated, and even though I know it

is a good thing, it can be hard to remember that in the day-to-day. I was watering the garden

one late afternoon when I was talking to God about how I felt about the move.

I was thinking about the quote: “Bloom where you are planted” and I realized it is not only

missed when you do not bloom… It is also missed if you bloom where you are not planted. I

firmly believe that God places us somewhere for a reason. God places each person in a

unique setting. God looks at a community and asks: “What do they need?” Or rather, “who”. I

believe that people are created with what their family, community, and environment needs.

But in our Western-influenced worldview, we move away from our community to ‘make it on

our own’. Not only are we robbing our intended community where we were planted of the

fruit of our work, but we are also robbing ourselves of a key thing too: belonging.

This is so fascinating to me, now, because my favorite quote in high school was: “If you don’t

like where you are, change it, you are not a tree”. Now, it seems, I am starting to believe the

opposite. You are a tree, coming in seed form with loads of potential to develop. There are

gifts, talents, ideas, solutions, and wonderful possibilities hidden deep within you. You are

not created to stand alone, but to be with other trees - an orchard or a forest. We are not

islands. You are made to become a branch where birds can come rest their tired wings after

long journeys. You are made to offer shade, a soft landing spot after a hard day’s work. And

to offer fruit that satisfies and energizes your people.

But, you have something to bring to the table where you are planted now too. If I keep

growing where we used to live, I can’t grow roots here. Like, for example, if I keep investing

in only those friendships, I can’t make new friendships here. It is a waste of energy and an

obstacle to growth if a plant keeps wishing it was elsewhere. Perhaps you’ve caught yourself

thinking in this way too: “If only I had ______, I could do it.” The truth is that there is

something unique for you to become exactly where you are right now. Until you water the

soil and give it enough sunlight and nutrients, you will never know what lies under the

surface waiting for a chance to sprout up.

Apparently, this quote was first said by Saint Francis de Sales (1567–1622). I can’t help but

wonder if he ever imagined that his thoughts to be my food for thought on this afternoon so

many years later, so many worlds apart. The plants lifted their heads as the cool water

misted over them, after a scorching hot day in the Swartland. And I felt like them - I too could

now lift my head after struggling with the transition. I looked up as the last rays of sunshine

waved goodbye over the mountain and I had hope in my eyes, with fresh vision and clear

direction from above.