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• growth
• IRSM

In the original Shrek movie, Donkey and Shrek profoundly discuss ogres and their complexities. However, Donkey does not understand Shrek and thinks that the comparison between ogres and onions, who both have layers, is not as appealing as a comparison to the layers in parfait because, “Everyone likes parfait!”

No matter which way you slice it, ogres, onions, people, and parfait all have layers. Even Jesus had layers. He was the son of Mary and the Son of God, brother and cousin, teacher and friend. The complexities of His life on earth give us even more ways with which we can connect, and on multiple levels.

I also like to compare His parables to onions because of the layers to their meaning, their interpretation, and their application in our lives.

And while all of these things are true, I have recently observed something else about onions. Out of their layers, they grow and multiply to grow new onions. Multiple times. And on my kitchen counter!

An onion’s nature is to grow. Even with no direct sunlight, lack of water, and devoid of nutrient-rich soil. I mean, where will an onion find those things on my kitchen counter? Yet it grew.
This picture is of the second time the onions grew out of their inner layers. The first “batch” went into a pot of Venezuelan black beans.

And as I looked at this second growth one morning, I realized how much I can learn from the onion about my own growth:
• A lone onion may multiply to produce another onion, but there is a limit to how big or how much an onion can grow if it is not truly grounded.
• Truly connected with the Divine Gardener, I can continue in steady growth and bear more fruit—fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of new disciples.
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” (John 15:4).
• My own efforts will fizzle and dry up if I am not drinking of the Living Water (John 4:10, 14).
• The deeper I dig into the layers of God´s Word, the greater my understanding of who He is and who I am called to be will grow
• And, grounded in the Word, rooted and established in love, I am better prepared for true, lasting growth (Eph. 4:15).

Yes, I really did get all this application from a couple of onions sitting on my kitchen counter.
What is God showing you about growth? Let´s peel back the layers and discover what God is teaching you through today!

#IronRoseSister #allthingsIRSM #growth #onions

• Women's Spiritual Health

I have never broken a bone, but I think a lot of that is due to my graciously loose joints. My right hip is one of the ones that is especially loose. And lately, it has been more sore than normal. Aggravated by weather, a strain, a pull, a lengthy car ride, sitting too long at a desk... I honestly don’t remember the recent trigger, and it is likely a combination of those things.
My physical therapist sister has encouraged me with some specific exercises that can help keep it in line and strengthen neighboring muscles. Yet my primary purpose today is not to regale you with my physical ailments.

Rather, I want to draw some parallels between our physical and spiritual state because literally and figuratively, or even spiritually speaking, my hip hurts.
Remember when Jacob and God wrestled all night and the next morning, as a part of his blessing, the angel wrenched Jacob’s hip? What an awesome war story Jacob got for his hip injury! Glorious story or not, the truth hurt. And every time his hip bothered him, it was a gentle reminder of his time of wrestling with God.
I am learning to treat the physical pain in my hip as a spiritual reminder of God’s patient wrestling with me through the watches of the night. He is faithful. And He has a plan. My pain is minimal in relation to His mighty working to mold me into His image and lead me in His way everlasting. 

I will spare you the enumeration of my detailed wrestlings with God in this context, but I know that you have them too. What are you wrestling over right now? What is God teaching you through this time?
As we conclude our emphasis on women’s spiritual health this month, I encourage you to share the battles and the lessons with a Christian sister and friend, an Iron Rose Sister. Just as God Himself works in us using the firmness of iron, sharpening us to be His best instrument possible, He gives us Christian sisters that can serve as iron sharpening iron. And as God, the Divine Gardener, treats us with the tender delicacy of a rose, He places others in our lives to encourage us in the areas we are striving to grow and bloom.

Take a moment today to share your wrestlings with an Iron Rose Sister. Pray together through the Common Threads and you walk together on the journey toward healing and fullness in Christ.

#IronRoseSister #spiritualhealth #CommonThreads #wrestlingwithGod