My Unruly Garden

Category: Devotional

  • Embrace Your Heart’s Banana Slug (Sacred Design)

    Embrace Your Heart’s Banana Slug (Sacred Design)

    (Note: Writing from July 20, 2025 when I was living on the south coast of Oregon.)

    Shortly after moving out west, I stumbled upon the Pacific Banana Slug.

    Every single time this creature slides across my path, I learn a new fun fact about its sacred design. This metaphorical rabbit hole I’ve fallen down has been endlessly intriguing. 

    With each encounter, this endearing slug has made me feel all the feels, while inspiring me to embrace my own sacred design—

    • I’ve laughed aloud hysterically, listening to a zoologist talk through one of their bizarre rituals (I’ll let you dig up that unique gem on your own).
    • I’ve had my mind blown while learning about the subtle nuances behind their versatile slime—it’s an adhesive, it’s a lubricant, and it can absorb large amounts of water.
    • I’ve even cried standing in a coast redwood forest, reading about their role in the broader ecosystem. They are a staunch defender of the redwood seedlings, devouring the vegetation that tries to stifle their growth.

    With every fascinating fact, I’ve stood in awe at how God continues to use this unique creature to provide a new perspective or nugget of wisdom that I needed in the moment.

    Embrace your sacred design

    As God has me in a season where He is rewilding “My Unruly Garden” (my heart space), this creature has encouraged me to embrace the hidden, and at times not so hidden, eccentric layers of my raw authentic self.

    rewild 

    re·​wild (ˌ)rē-ˈwī(-ə)ld

    to return to a more natural or wild state : to make or become natural or wild again

    From its quirky rituals to its versatile slime, the banana slug reminds us that even the most overlooked parts of God’s creation are marked with a sacred design—and so are we.

    Culture rewards polish, packaging, monotony — But God rewards obedience to aligning with who He created us to be. He’s a wildly creative God who planted unique treasures that are hidden within the deepest layers of our heart space. He made us wonderfully unique. And overtime this world subtly layers on masks of protection to tuck those treasures away. To hide our heart’s banana slug.

    “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”

    ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

    While navigating my current walk with God to peel back these layers of worldly conditioning, I’m observing how those surface layers are a packaged façade that mimics “authenticity” but isn’t our raw, authentic, god-given design. We created those false masks to fit in, to survive the harsh critics of humanity, or to hide our core wounds.

    It’s hard to fully embody who He created us to be when the world often works against it. Judging us, mislabeling us, misinterpreting us.

    So we tell ourselves our masks we wear for protection are authentic, but when you spend time truly examining the mask, you realize it’s simply a more acceptable plastic label society created to hide our vulnerable, unique aspects that were shamed, judged, or damaged over time. And it takes time to peel back and discard these masks, unearthing and fighting for our raw authentic relics that are buried treasure in a world that drives you to fit in.

    Fight for your raw authenticity

    Did you know the students at UC Santa Cruz fought for five years for their school mascot to be the banana slug? They resonated with this odd, yet endearing creature. The administration wanted sea lions, an animal considered more acceptable at sporting events. But the students stood their ground and cheered for their inner banana slug. And after a solid five-year fight they won over the administration. I love a good underdog story!

    As I’m in a season of fighting for my own inner banana slug, this story made my soul sing. Because it’s not just about a mascot—it’s about refusing to conform to the patterns and behaviors that make up the status quo of this world.

    “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

    ‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

    Sing your quirky, unruly notes

    So today, friend—Stop hiding your heart’s banana slug. Those quirky little characteristics are the unruly notes that will sing to others as you walk your unique path.

    And if no one else wants to listen to your heart’s weird little song, I do.

    From My Unruly Garden to yours, I’ll be over here singing with you in the wild, loving every bit of it.

    Devotional Prompt:

    What part of your God-given identity have you been tucking away to fit in? What quirky gift is waiting to shine in your Unruly Garden (your heart space)?

  • The world edits, God rewilds.

    The world edits, God rewilds.

    Restoring beauty from our brokenness.

    (Writing from June 8, 2025 / Photo taken on June 10, 2025)

    Walking into my first floral arrangement class, I had no idea what to expect. In fact, “not sure what to expect” has become my new normal. Moving 3,000 miles away from my hometown in the east coast suburbs to a small town where the redwoods meet the Pacific Ocean has been quite the adventure.

    When my instructor looked at one of the flowers in my arrangement, she asked if she could pluck it out and “edit” it. Intrigued, I told her to work her magic— I was curious what “editing” a flower meant. She plucked out a Honeymoon Rose (sourced from her friend’s garden) and proceeded to turn it upside down and gently peeled away the dead, warped petals clinging to its base.

    This was a perfect metaphor for my current faith walk. In this season, I’ve felt God plucking out certain dead spots in “My Unruly Garden”, examining them, and then removing the sections that are no longer breathing life into my “arrangement”.

    “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”

    John 15:1-2 NLT

    The instructor points to the Poppy Anemones—What about these? Perplexed, I couldn’t see what she meant. I hand selected those flowers. Sensing my confusion, she clarified—this one is thriving but this other one is missing some petals. Did you want to pluck it out and replace it with a fuller flower?

    I looked at it, smiled and said “No, I’m going to keep it. I appreciate its flaws. It adds a true character to the arrangement. After all, isn’t that reflective of the wild variety of nature?” She smiled and said she loved this.

    In my rewilding season, I can see how God is orchestrating everything for my good. My past includes the good, the bad, and the ugly of human nature. As He continues to rewild my heart, restoring it to align with His will for my life, I can see how He has used the missing petals to purify and strengthen me.

    Nature doesn’t pluck out a flower when a few petals get damaged. It remains firmly planted. Those missing petals tell its story. We don’t need to hide our flaws. They’re part of our character, our resiliency, and our overall beauty.

    “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

    Romans 8:28 NLT

    As I was arranging, I meditated on why my soul was drawn to that flower. I didn’t see its flaws. Even when she pointed them out, I couldn’t see it for anything but what it was—beautiful, vibrant, unique. The truth is I have always been drawn to the organic, the wild, the authentic. 

    Somewhere along the lines, I let the world tell me I had to paint over the flaws. During this flower arranging class, I celebrated this moment, because I knew she was back—my authentic self wasn’t hiding anymore because I saw that flower the way God sees me. And the way God sees you. His wonderfully complex, beautifully-broken creation.

    “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”

    Psalms 139:13-14 NLT

    There was a season the world conditioned over those parts of me, but I feel the Lord restoring me. Our surroundings mirror our life. And that flower is a metaphor for how I’ve felt in my deeper-level healing this past year, as we’ve uprooted a lot as I continue to heal in “My Unruly Garden.”

    Surrendering and submitting to God’s will feels a lot like the gardening process. We pull out a ton of weeds, plant new seeds, and cultivate the thriving native plants that were there all along. Rolling up my sleeves and digging deep to uproot the invasive species left some residual damage that the Lord is faithfully restoring in His timing.

    “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”

    ‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

    Some petals did fall off in this season. Those were the relationships and patterns that were not healthy or authentically aligned. And after navigating the unhealthy relationships and patterns of my past, I do have some warped petals, but they are a reminder of the resiliency that was built. While “My Unruly Garden” may look like a bit of a mess at the moment, the rewilding process always does, I know God’s work in my life right now is preparing the soil of my heart for new growth in this next season.

    Is the edited flower beautiful? Of course. But is that flawed Poppy Anemone way more beautifully complex? Absolutely. Those missing and warped petals tell its beautifully-broken story. It’s been through some storms, yet it was still chosen and valued for its true character, its heart that doesn’t always appear on the surface.

    “. . . The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.””

    1 Samuel 16:7 NLT

    I will always hold space for the flaws and mistakes of my past because God used them to craft a unique perspective and a deeper well of empathy so I can see through the flaws to the true character and beauty of the flower. And the reason I can see flawed humans through the same lens. 

    This entire arrangement — It’s a little wild. It didn’t follow all the rules. But it’s honest. It was carefully curated from my soul. And that beautifully-broken Poppy Anemone was my favorite part of the entire bouquet.

    Devotional prompt:

    What petals in your life —flawed, missing or warped—tell your story? How have those very imperfections shaped your beauty, resilience, and character? Where might God be editing your arrangement, not to make you perfect, but to reveal the wild beauty beneath?