Wildflowers: Lydia the AsterSýnishorn

Sharing Her Hospitality

Asters can grow in all hardiness zones, which means they can take a beating and prosper in less than desirable soil. Hardiness describes a plant's ability to thrive in adverse conditions, surviving even freezing temperatures. They also grow best with "tough love," meaning they're good in a pinch and can self-propagate, which serves to lengthen their growing season long past summer and into the fall.

Suffering saint, maybe God has allowed trials, testing, or tempests in your life to help you flourish far into the future. For you, the best truly is yet to come. God can trust you with difficulty knowing that you will bloom when all others have faded away. Cancer came to me in my fifties. My pinch included the removal of a tumor and a portion of my colon, as well as the end of hormone replacement therapy. But I've learned that Christ is the big C and cancer is the little c.

Following my recovery, I founded Reload Love, a nonprofit organization that turns bullets into beauty by melting down spent casings to upcycle into fashionable jewelry. All the profit goes to aiding children impacted by terror. I've crawled through ISIS tunnels in Iraq, traversed the mountainous regions of the Karen people in Myanmar, and driven the dusty roads of Jordan to bring relief to refugees, internally displaced people, and victims of armed conflict in order to show children that God cares, He's there, and He hears their prayers.

One way Reload Love accomplishes this is by building playgrounds in places where terror used to reign. So far, we've built forty-seven playgrounds in places like Nigeria, Iraq, Thailand, Pakistan, and Cambodia. We also provide trauma relief, medical supplies, academic programs, and safe spaces for children victimized by terror.

Lydia witnessed the revival in her city turn into persecution. Paul and his teammates saw the multitudes turn against them. The civic leaders beat them with rods and whipped them with many stripes. Eventually, they were arrested, imprisoned, and locked in stocks.

While the apostle was behind bars, Lydia opened her house to the brethren. Following a miraculous deliverance from prison because of an earthquake, the prison keeper and his entire household were saved. After being released, Paul sought Lydia's abode as the place to find shelter and relief. Her home became a center of Christian fellowship in Philippi and was likely the first home church in the region.

Asters are important plants in gardens, wildflower meadows, and roadsides because of their late-blooming nectar for bees and butterflies. Every garden should include them for this very reason. By the way, did you know that Euodia and Syntyche were from Philippi? Perhaps Lydia was one of the believers Paul urged to help these rivaling ladies to reconcile.

Read the verse below and answer the following questions:

"So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed" (Acts 16:40).

Practical Observation

1. Review what happened between verses 15 and 40, then list the major events.

2. Describe the incredible deliverance from prison Paul and his partners experienced.

3. Where did Paul go after being released from prison, and why do you think this was his choice?

Church describes a local group of believers who put their faith in Jesus Christ. The term is rarely mentioned in the Gospels, as the church era didn't begin until Pentecost in the book of Acts. There is also the universal church that describes all the saints of all the ages without reference to a specific place or time.

4. Who else did the apostle meet in this home?

5. What did the apostle and his friends do before they departed?

Encouragement is the act of inspiring someone to courage or confidence. It incentivizes a person to action or advancement. An encourager also restores hope to the hopeless. Paul said we should all practice this virtue. "So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing" (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NLT).

Personal Application

a. Have you ever felt trapped by your circumstances? Describe the situation and how God delivered you.

Deliverance speaks of being set free. Paul was literally delivered from prison. The psalmist praised the Lord for delivering him from enemies, death, fears, and distress. God is our ultimate deliverer. We are encouraged to pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13).

b. If Paul visited your city, where do you think he would go and who do you think he would meet?

c. Describe a time you encouraged another person. How did you do it? How did it make them feel?

One another is mentioned in the Bible repeatedly in commands for believers to love, serve, encourage, and instruct one another. God does not intend for man or woman to be alone. We thrive when we join a church, a prayer group, or a family. We truly are better together.

When I go up through the mowing field,

The headless aftermath,

Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,

Half closes the garden path.

And when I come to the garden ground,

The whir of sober birds

Up from the tangle of withered weeds

Is sadder than any words.

A tree beside the wall stands bare,

But a leaf that lingered brown,

Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,

Comes softly rattling down.

I end not far from my going forth

By picking the faded blue

Of the last remaining aster flower

To carry again to you.

—Robert Frost

How to Grow Asters

As summer flowers begin to wither, asters blossom in late summer and fall to bring vibrance and beauty to many gardens. They are "daisy-like perennials with starry-shaped flower heads that range in color from white to blue to purple.... Asters also attract bees and butterflies, providing the pollinators with an important late-season supply of nectar" (source ).

• Light: Full sun is best; some types will grow in part shade.

• Soil: Grows best on well-drained, loamy soil.

• Spacing: Space plants one to four feet apart.

• Planting: Plant asters anytime during the growing season, but they do best in late summer to early fall. Allow the roots to get established before winter (source ).