When I was first accepted into grad school here in Nashville I was so excited. Everything that I had been hoping and praying for was now becoming a reality. After moving here the excitement died down as it was a completely different environment than back home in NC. For one Nashville isn't as culturally diverse and it's made evident in it's lack of variety as far as restaurant choices and entertainment are concerned. It seems to be exiled from all other major cities except ATL (4hr drive) and flights in and out of Nashville are pricey because well...no one flies here. Not only that, but the stress of school also had me bogged down and I realized that all I was doing was complaining. Crazy how prior to being accepted into grad school all I did was fast and pray about my next move in life. I wanted to make sure that the decisions I made regarding my life all acknowledged God so that He would direct my paths. I wanted to be in His will and I knew that he would grant me the desires of my heart. Often times when His will is not the same as my will I complain and my attitude certainly reflects that. I complained about how wack Nashville was, how school was stressful, how my classmates never want to go out and just EVERYTHING.
In Bible study Wednesday night at Temple we talked about forgiveness. Truthfully I was zoning in and out of the message at times because I get forgiveness...I don't struggle with forgiving (often times to a fault but hey the Bible says we are to forgive infinitely)...I understand it. I thought okay this message isn't for me but maybe someone else in the room can benefit from it and randomly the minister leading the study uttered "BLOSSOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED....". Can't tell you what part of the lesson he mentioned this in because again I was zoning in and out thinking about other things (sad but true). As he continued to minister about forgiveness the only thing that kept playing in my mind was "blossom where you are planted". God will speak to you anywhere...in the midst of anything.
The blossom comment really spoke to me and I realized that I was stifling my own growth here in Nashville simply with my attitude. Flowers and grasses grow even in the crevices of concrete. It's what they are designed to do. It's what WE are designed to do. It reminded me of the story in Jeremiah 29 about a people who were exiled from a good and comfortable place to a place that they did not like. They were told to multiply and grow in the city and to seek peace and prosperity. When you are in a place that you don't like (example being a job you hate) it is often HARD to find prosperity or even an ounce of peace for that matter. In response to this God tells them "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. God always has a plan for us even when we aren't sure what that plan is. We may be in an uncomfortable place but I trust in Him and His promise. Often times, in these uncomfortable places or situations we begin to develop our character and flourish as individuals both spiritually and mentally. The "captivity" in verse 14 is not always a physical place either; it can be a mentality or a state of mind. So with that in mind I'm going to blossom where I am planted...here in Nashville. I've changed my attitude about the city and just being here in general and I see changes already taking place. I had prayed about this for a while and randomly I get the "blossom where you are planed" quote in Bible study. He was right when He said "you will pray to me and I'll listen and bring you back". I'm sure I was uprooted from home to Nashville for a reason...not exactly sure what that is yet but I trust that I'm in the right place at the right time and in the mean time I'll be blossoming :). My mentality about this place has changed and I no longer feel captive in a city that seemingly had nothing to offer. It's crazy how the passage in Jeremiah 29 also talks about not listening to the prophets/diviners/natives who were already in the city because they falsely prophesy. When I first moved here mostly all the students who were already in Nashville told me it was boring, nothing to offer, only thing to do is go out and drink or hit up bars. By listening to them I had unknowingly adopted the same spirit/mentality about the city. Be careful about listening to others because even without our knowing it, words can become thoughts and we begin to adopt mentalities from people.
But yea in the end I'm back in a happy place. In lieu of this I've even started a pinterest board titled "Exploring Nashville" where at least once a week I want to get out and try/explore something new here. Although school keeps me pretty busy it's certainly necessary and healthy to have balance in life so with that I'll be pinning when I can. I'm thinking about getting one of those DLR cameras to take pictures for pinterest. With my pins I'm going to cut down on words because pictures really are worth a million words. It's hard to capture what I want to say by finding pics online so I figure why not capture my own thoughts on film.
So yea guys that's my post for today. I pray that you all blossom where you are planted as well! Have a blessed day guys! :)
-Jess
PS I forgot to tell you guys I'm a thug so 9 times outta 10 I don't use spell check because that's how I roll. I should probably work on that but nahhhhh so yea if you notice typos or anything bless your heart lol.
This was the PLAN:
Saturday- Went for bubble tea at as Asian market...couldn't find it but I DID find some veggie dumplings and shrimp dumplings and I surely stocked up while I was there and purchased a bottle of THE BEST HOT SAUCE EVER. Stopped by Off Broadway to see if they still had these neon green and grey sneakers I saw...NOPE! Went to another Asian market spot and had Thai tea...and spring rolls...and a veggie curry roll...and some spicy green curry with chicken and ginger...walked outside to go to my car to head to school to read but got distracted by a live rock band playing outside across the street (weather was PERFECT)...stopped by for a while and the group was hot! Noticed a coffee shop next door that I could have sworn I saw on Food Network so dropped by. Noticed a used instrument store across the street so stopped by to check out some wah wah pedals for my electric guitar. On my way out of the instrument store to my car I was stopped by a man wondering where the step show was. Saw other Black people going to a step show as well so hey I followed the Black people! lol. My friend and I then found ourselves at some regional step show thing where kids of all ages came from all over the US to step. It was cool as well. By then I realized a COUPLE of hours had passed so I left to go to my car so I could go to school to read. Got to school and after 2hrs and only reading 2pgs I took an L for the day.
