Last year on an ordinary day, my hubby surprised me by coming home with a calla lily plant. I had been having a rough time physically, emotionally, spiritually and he was hoping the plant would cheer me up. Of course, I was thrilled, but I told him that he shouldn't have wasted money as it was a plant and I'm one of those unfortunate people who do not possess a green thumb. I have tried planting flowers before and because we have very bad, hard, rocky soil, nothing ever survives. No matter how much Miracle Grow I used, all my flowers would eventually die.
So the calla lily plant sat on my table for a couple of months with us diligently watering it. After a while, the blooms fell off and it looked dead. I remember Justin saying we should plant it, but I told him don't bother as we had tried before.
Fast forward a year and a half...
One morning last week about 6:00 in the morning, I was already typing and my hubby comes and says, "Hey, come outside! You have to see something!" Normally, he does not bother me in the morning early because he knows that is usually when I type alot of my minutes for the day, so this had to be important. I follow him outside and this is what I saw:
My hubby is standing by it with a huge smile on his face, looking so proud. He had planted it without telling me last year. Tears welling up in my eyes, I gave him a hug and thanked him. He was SO proud of himself. I thank God every day for my husband.
I have reflected on our little bloom and the scripture comes to mind in Ecclesiastes that says, "He hath made every thing beautiful in his time..." The passage of time is sometimes heartrending, but even so, we know that old saying, "time heals all wounds." I have found this to be true. Sometimes, it seems as if our wound is so deep and so horrific that even time won't be able to heal us, but then I have also found there are some wounds that God is waiting for us to focus on Him before He allows healing. I have known loss in my life and grief so deep I thought I would never survive it. Grief is a funny thing in many ways simply because, even though our heart will always miss those we have lost, with time and God our hearts can be consoled. There is a song that says, "How can you know joy if you have never met pain. Every smile is born from a tear and every victory has battled with fear."
There were times last year when I wished I had never known pain, never went through loss, but looking back, it made me a better person, a more compassionate person. It is true - we can never judge a person unless we have walked a mile in their shoes. I pray I never get weary of being a good listener, a loyal friend, and I certainly pray that I never got to the point where I write people off out my life because I think my problems are bigger or they don't handle their life the way I think they should. :) After all, compassion, love, patience, and forgiveness all goes hand in hand with being a Christian.
I thank God for my little calla lily, my hubby who planted it, but most of all, I thank Him for forgiveness, compassion, love, healing, and most of all time.
