“What are those flowers called?” This was the question from my out-of state or simply city friends the other day as we passed a patch of wildflowers on the side of the road. We were on our way to one of our many adventures.

This question caught me a little off guard at first and I even found it a bit funny simply because I grew up knowing they were wildflowers. They didn’t necessarily have a name and if they did it was probably something like an “indian paintbrush” obviously not the correct scientific term. Many people also know them as weeds.

I have loved wildflowers since I was little, I can remember asking my mom why we couldn’t pull over to the median of the road and take pictures in the middle of all the pretty colorful flowers. I didn’t understand that they weren’t considered to be the best, prettiest or even the most desirable of flowers. They were simply there by chance and they were even considered a nuisance by some.

After explaining to my friends on our car ride that they were simply wildflowers that ended up on the side of the highway by chance, one friend thought that was crazy because they looked so purposefully placed.

Isn’t it funny how something that seems like it has gone wherever the wind blew it and ended up in quite possibly the most random of spots has landed somewhere that makes perfect sense?

As the school year is coming to a close, I have to say I learned a lot this year. More than I could’ve expected in a few areas–life being the main one.

Coming to college you expect to learn things obviously, school things, things about yourself, things about others, things about life, God and many many other things. This year I think God decided it was time I had a lesson in life and where he fit into that whole plan for me.

God kind of rocked and wrecked my world at the beginning of this semester and honestly it was the best thing that could’ve happened to me. Ever since then my eyes have been a lot more open and my heart much more accepting.

I think for the longest time I had been holding on to my wishes, hopes and dreams thinking that if that is what I had always wanted it was probably what God had planned for me. If you know me at all, you know I hate admitting I’m wrong. Well, here it is in writing. I was wrong, very wrong.

I’m not saying you should abandon everything your heart has ever desired, I’m just saying consider the fact that it may not necessarily be God’s plan for you. I’m also not saying I know what God’s plan is for me after that little realization, I’m just saying I’m much more willing to keep my options open and consider different paths than the one I’ve had laid out for myself ever since I was old enough to think about things like the rest of my life. (I was a very mature child, so let’s just say that plan has been there for a longgg time.)

I think God has a bit of a sense of humor and I even think he sometimes laughs at people like me who think we have it all planned out.

You see, when I looked at life I wanted to be some kind of flower, like a rose or a lily or maybe even a tulip. In my head, all of these flowers have a pretty specific purpose. The life of a rose is spent in a beautiful garden, or somewhere in a bouquet being exchanged from one person to another. I picture a lily flower as the centerpiece at a wedding reception table or floating effortlessly on top of the water. Tulips are happy flowers, they bring thoughts of spring and simple joy, and they can usually be found in a manicured flower bed.

While yes, obviously these flowers are used for other things and I shouldn’t assume or discriminate when it comes to the life of flowers, but in my head that’s what I picture. For these flowers I picture a pretty simple life, bringing people joy and happiness, knowing exactly their purpose from the beginning with a set path of life, not running into much hardship, but nonetheless being a flower.

I think God decided instead that I should be a wildflower. I know at this point you’re thinking I’m crazy because I’m suggesting that God pictures people as flowers and I’m comparing my life to that of an object whose life is seasonal. Don’t worry, it’s just a metaphor, I don’t think God created me saying that I should be what some people call the “rejects of the flower world”.

However, if you’ll stick with me, I think you might think He wants you to be a wildflower too.

I’m a planner if you can’t tell. I want my life laid out in front of me with a checklist to mark off as I go. Wildflowers don’t get this, they don’t have a cookie-cutter course of life like their flower friends do.

From the very beginning, they simply go where they are placed. I’m not saying they go and do as they please because they’re the rebels of the flower world, I’m saying their plan is just different and it differs depending on the exact individual. They may go where the wind places their little seedling self, but in this case the wind is their Creator.

They don’t serve a specific purpose, they may have many purposes, but no two are the same between flowers.

Some wildflowers are placed on the side of the road to remind you that even on the long road you’re traveling there will always be hope and something beautiful to focus on.

Some wildflowers are placed in the backyard of a family just waiting to be picked by a child and given to their mother to show her she’s been thought of and that she is so loved.

Some wildflowers are placed in the middle of the desert to prove that even in the toughest of conditions beautiful growth can take place.

Some wildflowers are placed directly in the middle of large green fields only to stand out above the consistent pattern to show their spirit not of fear but of courage, not afraid to be different.

My friends and I were on our way to a concert in the city when the wildflower discussion came about. The concert consisted of some of our favorite bands and singers, the main act being NeedToBreathe.

One of my favorite songs they sing is called “The Outsiders”. If you haven’t heard it you should go look it up, but this song is kind of what the band has based itself on since their first big album. The basic idea of the song is all about being Christ followers and how really, we’re on the outside. It’s where we found our home, not in the patterns of this world, not in the crowds of society, but on the outside of all that.

To me, the wildflowers are the outsiders of the flower world. You’ll almost never find a wildflower in the middle of a flower shop arrangement. (if there are wildflowers in the flower shop you use, you should find a new one)

Instead, these flowers are reserved to nature, falling wherever they may, but serving a pretty specific purpose once they get there. They also tend to draw a lot more attention than flowers placed in a flower bed or in a bouquet. The random nature they possess is much more eye-catching.

It’s funny because people that know about wildflowers consider them weeds because they know they only happened to be where they are by chance and they have a way of spreading, but to someone who didn’t know about them directly, they saw beauty and purpose, they saw that they were there for a reason.

How often do we let the ones closest to us tell us we’re being silly and that we need to get our 5 or maybe even 10 year plan together because there’s no way things will simply fall into place? How often do we let someone tell us whatever we’re doing makes no sense and we should really get on a path that has been done before and has the work laid out in front of us so we don’t have to take any chances?

I ask that because until recently I was one of those people. I have trouble seeing how anything will work out without an idea of where you’re going, I don’t understand how a person can completely submit and do what they’re told without question.

How many people do you think called Noah crazy or insane? Homie was building an ark simply because God told him too. I don’t know how things worked exactly back then, but I’m pretty sure taking time off to build an ark wasn’t a casual thing to do. You know he was looked at as a total outsider, maybe even a lunatic, but look where that got him.

If you ask me, Noah was a wildflower. Looking back at the story now, we see him as a mainstream flower like a rose or a tulip, but in his day and age he was a wildflower. We only think his plan was all laid out and easy because we know the whole story.

Faith would be easy if we knew the whole story. If we knew the whole story we might end up being lilies or daisies, but for now being a wildflower is necessary.

I also recently heard someone mention that God uses “nameless people”. This was kind of funny to me, but if you think about it, would you rather be known by your name or that you are a Christ-follower? The selfish worldly part of us would say our name, but if we were to be standing face-to-face with our maker, we would much rather be known as a Christ-follower. You never know how much bigger of an impact you might have if someone knows who you’re following rather than who you are. Just like a wildflower, I’d rather people not know my name, but know that I was a wildflower.

Looking back, wildflowers may not be the most desirable to everyone, they may not be the most traditionally beautiful and they may be seen as the rejects or rebels of the flower world. But if I was a flower, I would want to be a nameless, beautiful in my own way, eye-catching, follower of wherever the Wind placed me, easily spread and purposeful flower that is a wildflower.

This year has taught me to be more like Noah, it’s okay to be an outsider and in all reality having the freedom that a wildflower possesses is way more desirable than the “beauty” and ease of being a mainstream flower.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” –Romans 12:12