Failure to Thrive

African Violet

By Kim Chaffin –

A green thumb I have not. I have found that I can keep a cactus alive and with a streak of luck I have kept an African violet alive for just over a year.  I keep it by my kitchen sink in hopes that I will remember to water it now and than.  Apparently without water the poor thing can’t thrive.

The word thrive means:

fall scents for your home

(Of a child, animal, or plant) grow or develop well or vigorously. To prosper and flourish.

Just like my African violet needs to flourish and thrive so do we.  There is a condition called failure to thrive. Failure to thrive refers to children who have a weight gain that is lower than the weight of other children their same age.  It can be caused by environmental factors and health of the child. According to A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia a Loss of emotional bond between parent and child can lead to “failure to thrive”.  No matter how old we get we are still children of God and without a strong emotional bond with our Heavenly Father how can really expect to thrive?

My violet sets by my kitchen sink and many days it is left thirsty for a drink of water that will bring it life. Without water it will surely wither and die.  We need to be watered if we want to live life abundantly and if we want to flourish and thrive.  Jesus is the way to a life that thrives. He is the living water poured out on us by our heavenly father.

“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”  John 7:37-38. NIV

It is Jesus who gives us life and it is through Jesus that we can grow in a very deep emotional connection with or heavenly father.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6-7 NIV

Are you thriving or are you struggling to survive like my violet? If you find yourself in a state of “failure to thrive” cry out to Jesus.  Tell him you are thirsty and that you need to know His father.  No matter how old you are you are still a child of the one true God and you need to have a strong connection with him.

The Casting Crowns have a song called “Thrive” and the words of the song say this:

So living water flowing through

God we thirst for more of You

Fill our hearts and flood our souls

With one desire

Just to know You and

To make You known

We lift Your name on High

Shine like the sun make darkness run and hide

We know we were made for so much more

Than ordinary lives

It’s time for us to more than just survive

We were made to thrive 

Much to my surprise when I Googled the words of the song I found that the Casting Crowns was having a TRIVE CHALLENGE and it is lines up perfectly with what was heavy on my heart. If you are just trying to survive I hope you check out this link https://www.castingcrowns.com/news/thrive-challenge-3156

Stop trying to make it day-by-day.  Stop thinking that you are not worthy of much more.  Christ came to give you life and he wanted you to have life abundantly. He came to give you hope because without hope in Him you can only hope to survive. You were made to thrive, stop trying to just survive.   

 

Kim Chaffin is a wife of 25 years, mother of two, a writer, speaker and a sold out believer in Christ.  She loves to use her writing to help others see God in day-to-day things that may seem mundane. Kim is the creator of Heartfelt Ramblings of a Midlife Domestic Goddess and is also a monthly contributor for the Whatever Girls Ministry. Websites: www.heartfeltramblings.com and www.thewhatevergirls.com

 

3 thoughts on “Failure to Thrive”

  1. Great word, Kim. For me to thrive I think of John 15:1-8 “Remain in Me…”. Apart from Him we will bear no fruit and not thrive. Great reminder.

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