Bloom Where You Are Planted

PSA: This post is lengthy...but which of my blog posts aren't!? AM I RIGHT!? 

One of my all-time favorite quotes encourages us to "bloom where [we] are planted." In fact, I love it so much, I had it framed when I went off to college and it's been sitting on my dresser ever since. This quote has reminded me every single day that we're called to "do what [we] can, with what [we] have, where [we] are" and I can confidently say I did what I could, with what I had, where I was while at Texas A&M University! I wanted to be spiritually ready to fulfill God's purpose for my life when He called my name and told me to "Go!" so I maintained my desire to grow. I "bloomed where [I] was planted" and recognized that God, the Gardener, had purposely planted me in College Station, TX, just as He purposely placed me in White Oak, TX growing up...and if I wanted to flourish, it was my responsibility to yield to His cultivation. In doing so, God taught me a LOT about who I was and who He wanted me to be in Christ. When the time came, I would be ready to be uprooted. As quoted in The Circle Maker, "God's primary concern is who we're becoming in the process. We talk about 'doing' the will of God, but the will of God has much more to do with 'being' than 'doing.' It's not about being in the right place at the right time; it's about being the right person, even if you find yourself in the wrong circumstances. Success has nothing to do with how gifted or how resourced you are; it has everything to do with glorifying God in any and every situation by making the most of it." 

The Oak Inside the Acorn
Let's flash forward to Max Lucado's children's book, The Oak Inside the Acorn, which encourages us to "bloom where we are planted" as we seek to fulfill God's purpose for our lives. In The Oak Inside the Acorn, Mother Oak reminds Little Acorn at the beginning of the story, “When your time comes to go into the world, you’ll be fine.” He knew the time was coming for him to leave, but the thought of "leaving the safety of his mother's branches was scary to Little Acorn." It was then that Mother Oak told him, "Within you is a great oak. Just be the tree God made you to be." 

The day finally came for Little Acorn to leave Mother Oak. He fell from her branches into the bed of a pickup truck. He was accidentally swept into a field of orange trees where he remained for a few months - long enough for Little Acorn to become Little Oak. Soon the orange trees began bearing fruit. When the orange trees told Little Oak he would never bear oranges, he felt out of place. He didn't belong there.

When the farmer returned to gather the fruit, he noticed Little Oak was out of place so he uprooted him and planted Little Oak in his front yard. Even then, however, Little Oak felt like he didn't belong. He was surrounded by daisies, petunias, and roses. "Every day, he tried to grow colorful flowers. But he never could." He couldn't grow oranges. He couldn't grow flowers. Little Oak still could not figure out what he was made to do. Throughout the years, Little Oak continued to grow while the words his mother told him remained in the back of his mind: "Within you is a great oak. Just be the tree God made you to be." 

Eventually, Little Oak became Big Oak. He was the tallest and widest of all his friends. However, he still could not figure out what he was made to do. 

One day, "a young farmer brought two ropes and tied them to one of his strong branches" as a little girl watched nearby. When he finished, she asked, "Can I do it, Daddy? Can I swing?" The man began pushing Little Girl on the swing, and "with her daddy's help, she swung forward. Not too far. But farther the next day and farther the next." 

Big Oak loved Little Girl. As he grew, so did she, "Each year both taller. Each year both stronger." Little Girl spent hours climbing his branches and resting in his shade, and finally, "Big Oak knew he had become the tree God made him to be." 

The years flew by and "Little Girl didn't swing so much...Little Girl was becoming Big Girl." Big Oak understood that she was growing up and that it would soon be time for Big Girl to go into the world. As she sat beneath his branches, Big Oak heard Big Girl say, "I don't know what I'm supposed to be...it's hard to let go...how can I know who I am?" Big Oak wanted to tell her, "Within you is a great girl. Just be the person God made you to be." Unfortunately, he could not. "'Orange trees grow oranges,' he would say. 'Flower plants grow flowers. And oaks? Oaks grow tall enough for swings and strong enough for swinging and big enough to hold little girls until they become big girls.'" 

One day, Big Girl sat beneath Big Oak and cried. Big Oak knew just what to do. When the wind blew, "Big Oak let [one] branch shake more than the others" and "[a] little acorn popped loose and landed in Big Girl's lap." She wondered if Big Oak had ever been that small. Then she said, "Of course you were. You grew into a great oak from a little acorn. All you did was become what God made you to be." 

She stared at the acorn in her hands, then at Big Oak, and asked, "Do you suppose that's what God wants me to do?" After a few moments, she boldly proclaimed, "Of course He does. Now it's time for me to let go and become the person God made me to be." 

Just as Little Oak fell from his mother's branches, was uprooted from the orange tree farm and re-planted in the farmer's front yard, I have been uprooted from Texas A&M University; my time has come to go into the world. Just as Little Oak continue to "bloom [wherever he] was planted" until He discovered God's purpose for his life, I will continue to "bloom [wherever I] am planted" until I discover God's purpose for my life. I grew in White Oak, TX for 18yrs, I grew at Kilgore for a year, and then Texas A&M University for 3yrs. Now it is time for me to grow elsewhere! With my Father's help, I will "swing a little farther" each day. Although it will be scary, nerve-racking, and exciting all at the same time, I do not have to worry because "Within [me] is a great girl." Like Little Oak, I will be fine. All I have to do is "let go and become the person God made me to be."

"You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world." At Ring Dance, seniors turn their Aggie Ring around to be readable by others. Their class year no longer faces them; it faces the world, and after walking across the stage this past weekend and becoming a Former Student of Texas A&M University, I, too, face the world!

Not everyone gets the opportunity to graduate COLLEGE with one of their closest high school friends...and on top of that, out of the HUNDREDS of Communication students, he was seated RIGHT BEHIND ME during graduation! I'm so blessed to have gone to school with Jake for 17yrs, and I'm so blessed to have walked across the stage with him one last time!

My family means EVERYTHING to me! They have loved me and supported me every single step of the way. They are my biggest blessing in life and I don't know what I would do without them. I love them so much!

These two have given me the world. I would not be where I am today without them. I will forever be grateful for the sacrifices they've made in order to allow me to achieve a higher education at the university of my dreams!

These are my brothers, my best friends, and my heroes. They're handsome, funny (except for when they offer me a tootsie roll when I'm talking too much or send videos hushing me with their hands because they can feel me getting fired up through text), and an absolute joy to be around. I love them and look up to them more than they will ever know! Thank you for being the best big brothers a girl could ever ask for! 
Maybe I'll be able to beat you at a game of 21 now that I'm a college graduate, but I doubt it! 

These two have always, ALWAYS cheered me on, whether I was marching in the band or playing basketball. I'm so very blessed to have them in my life! I love you! 

These are some of my very best friends! I may have met them in different places at different times, but they all take up room in the same place - my HEART! Thank you for taking the time out of your day to watch me graduate. It means more to me than you will ever know. You have blessed me tremendously and I love you all so, so very much!


I've had several people ask why I chose to put Isaiah 6:8 on my graduation cap. 
Ever since I was a little girl, Here I Am, Lord has been my all-time favorite hymn and it's based off of Isaiah 6:8! I fight back tears every time I sing it, and I don't always win the battle. In this chapter, the Lord is looking for a messenger to send into the world, someone who voluntarily says, "Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me! I will hold your people in my heart!" In Isaiah 6:8, the Lord asks, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" It is then that Isaiah confidently replies, "Here I am! Send me!" as he patiently waited to be sent. It is my prayer that I be ready to go when called! So, just as my graduation cap reads, with passionate faith and my arms stretched wide, I joyfully and confidently proclaim, “Here I am, Lord! Send me!” as I patiently wait to be sent when God tells me to, "Go!" 

Although I will miss Texas A&M (the people, the community, etc.), I know it doesn't end here! The best is yet to come! My journey has only just begun! I AM SO EXCITED! I finally get to chase after the dreams that have kept me awake at night since I was a sophomore in high school. I finally get to discover why God made me, Kristin Koonce. It's time for me to be uprooted. It's time for me to grow elsewhere.

Conclusion

Sometimes you have to go places you’ve never been in order to achieve things that have never been done. Take God’s hand and follow wherever He leads. You may walk blindly for a while, but in the end you will come out seeing. Know that God created you with a purpose in mind. He has plans for you that outweigh anything you’ve ever dreamed of, plans that will require obedience and faith in His timing and direction. Trust in Him always. Be willing to let go of what’s comfortable for what’s uncomfortable. Be confident in the direction your life is going, but always be grateful for the paths that have led you to where you are today. BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED! Go out into the world and make a difference for His Kingdom, and always, always know that “Within you is a great guy/girl. Just be the person God made you to be!”