Dead-Heading Tips & A Giveaway

If you’ve popped over from my Encouragement For Today devotion, welcome! If you haven’t click here to read it. Then be sure to come back! :-) And if you’d like to receive my posts in your email box, click on one of the first three icons under the word ‘subscribe’ at the top of the sidebar.

Is your spiritual life in need of a good dead-heading? Try these 5 tips:

~ Realize growth never happens without death. Just as a seed must ‘die’ before it begins to germinate and grow, we often need to go through pruning seasons in our spiritual lives. Death must happen–of our selfish desires, our wishes, our rights, our reoccurring sin struggles. Rather than be frustrated, thank God for the pruning process that brings forth new, vibrant life.

~ Nip early. You know when you are beginning to drop your guard and let negative thoughts, destructive habits or counter-productive behaviors seep in to your life. At the first sign of it, stop. Think through the consequences that will occur. Call a friend for accountability. Go take a walk. Divert yourself. Think before you react. Sin must be stopped early before it snowballs, taking many others in its path and leaving a wake of destruction.

~Fertilize often. Plant God’s word in your heart and mind. Saturate yourself with scripture. Place a sticky note on your mirror. Make it your computer’s screen saver. Turn it into wallpaper for your cell phone. Also take longer periods each day to read and absorb God’s directions to us in His word, the Bible. We cannot grow properly if we don’t feed our souls scripture. And they certainly can’t thrive on a steady diet of the world’s offerings.

~Water regularly. Wash your soul in the forgiveness only Jesus can offer. Go to Him and repent (which is a fancy term for changing your mind about sin). Decide you no longer think sin is no big deal. Wipe the slate clean and begin again. Be sure to ask for forgiveness from anyone you may have wronged. (Ouch!)

~Emit a sweet scent. When you react differently, even pleasantly, when you are bumped, wronged or slighted, you stand out as stars among the universe. Others won’t quite know what to do with you when you return a blessing for a curse. The aroma of Christ will permeate the air and draw others to Himself.

Are you ready to give your heart a good dead-heading? The results are simply beautiful!

Now for the giveaway! Here is a garden-themed gift package one of you reading this will win. It includes items to pamper your hands, your feet & yourself after a long day working in the garden including:

~ Cucumber-Melon Bath & Bodyworks shower cream.

~ Crisp cucumber Bath & Bodyworks hand lotion.

~ Garden Grogg coffee–a blend of butterscotch, hazelnut & caramel.

~ A bloomin’ flower card. You plant the actual card and it grows a variety of flowers & herbs.

~ A pumice bar & emery boards.

~ Some cucumber-mint foot scrub.

~ A foot-shaped scrub brush.

To be entered in the giveaway, leave a comment telling us either your favorite flower, herb or vegetable to grow. Mine would have to be either pineapple sage or chocolate-mint. You?

318 Comments

  1. Tulips. I love tulips and have been growing them since my first childhood home. We moved from that home when I was 10 and I am in my late 50’s so this has definitely been a lifelong love affair. I can still remember where I planted them back then. Now they occupy a spot in my front yard and each year I get excited when the first buds appear.

  2. We are trying our best to get more than the one “almost” red and the red tomato that we have gotten off of our lone tomato plant. It’s in a container on the back deck. Sorry to say that gardening is not one of my gifts. I love the way flowers look, but I’m lousy at maintaining them–watering, weeding, you know, the basics. Thanks for the great devotional!

  3. Loved your analogy off dead heading to keep the blooms coming and the connection to our spiritual lofe attitudes.

  4. I love to grow herbs to use in cookong–basil, oregano, mint, tarragon to name a few because threy are so much fresher from the garden. Since I live in they mountains, I grow them in pots that can be moved inside in winter.

  5. I loved and needed your words of encouragement for today. I’ve been reading several verses to pick myself up the last few days and this helped. I like pansies, they are so delicate.

  6. My favorite flower is: Hibiscus Any color will do. I love the open-faces, the leafy beauty, the contour of colors each of them have. To me an hibiscus speaks of warmth & sunshine…even on the bleakest of days.

  7. My favourite thing to grow are peonies. Gorgeous early blooms that smell amazing…also needed to hear this today. There are many things holding me back from growing and they need to be cut off!

  8. I love hyacinths–they smell like Easter to me, and lilacs-they smell soooo delightful!
    Thanks for a beautiful website of encouragment!

  9. I am terrible at growing plants, flowers and veggies! Even when I put forth effort to really produce something it dies on me. I just can’t figure it out. So I like to grow Iris’ and Hosta’s because the require nothing from me and they make my yard look nice. My Mom is fabulous at growing flowers and gardens and we always have a wonderful laugh over how terrible I am but she always helps me and encourages me to try again.

  10. My favorite flower is the yellow evening primrose. My grandchildren enjoy watching it bloom. My father and I used to count the blooms each evening to see who had the most blooms. The buds actually shimmy and shake as they gradually open. It is totally amazing to watch the flower bud open!

  11. My favorite plant is my Colorado Blue Spruce tree. I love living in Colorado after being raised on the plains and the Blue Spruce is the perfect tree to have in my yard. It is as beautiful in the summer as it is with a fresh coating of snow in the winter.
    Thanks for the devotion today. It touched me. Negative, anxious thoughts are a constant battle for me. I’m always afraid I am letting God down by letting them enter my mind. Thank goodness He loves me through it.

  12. I love growing blue hydrangeas, as the color blue always brings me such peace and deep joy ! I think our Lord must love the color blue also, as His creation is covered in the blue seas of beautiful hues and the skies are another example of His creative variety of coloring our atmosphere in indescribable blue beauty. Thanks for your devotion about ridding our lives of the dead weight that keeps us back from all that God has for us. Keep up the encouraging words and examples that we can all relate to as we incorporate them into our lives and hopefully share with others, being a sweet fragrance that brings glory to Jesus!. God Bless your ministry.

  13. My favorite flower to grow right now is the petunia. It’s so colorful (especially the new varieties), extremely sturdy and always cheerful!

    Blessings!

  14. I agree with all of the “too timely” messages – God is certainly using you! Time to weed! =) Our favorite vegetable to grow as a family this year is sugar snap peas – my 3 and 4 year old are SOOOOO excited to get out into the garden – check for growth – and then eat them right off of the vine!

  15. I love the cherry tomatoes my husband grows. They are so sweet and are a healthy snack that my kids and I enjoy.

  16. i love to grow star gazer lilys and roses, thanks for a very good devotion. i will return to it often

  17. Thankyou for your devotionals and for reminding me that I so need to spend more time
    in God’s Word– so that I can sow seeds of the fruit of his wisdom , growing in His wonderful,
    mericful Grace. and hopefully be a source of encouragement if he allows me.
    I really enjoy growing various kinds of “dasies” , they seem to be a happy flower , they make me smile. ……Gloria J.

  18. Thank you for your very timely devotional. I don’t always take time to read them but God certainly knows when I should! I needed to hear this and so need to deadhead!
    I love my garden and love to spend time there. In spring I cannot wait to plant some pansies. We have very long cold winters and to me they are a sign of spring and the beauty that only God can display!

  19. I love petunias. I adore all flowers and have many around the yard and the beds, but the petunias don’t seem to be quite so fussy for me…a beginner. I have a hard time killing them…unlike some others :) I love the analogy today in your post too. So very true. Thanks for your blessing. Have a wonderful day.

  20. My favorite flower is the Rose. I have memories of receiving roses from a special someone so the scent always brings back those happy memories.
    Enjoyed your tips. I need to deadhead those thoughts that bring me down.

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