Spring Cannot Be Placed as A Rush Order

Early March, a package arrived for me. I had found a great sale on spring bulbs and was thrilled that I was able to order so many for only $20! But it is one thing to picture Twinkletoes, Anemones, Sweet Williams, Delphiniums, Blue Moon Hydrangeas, Everbearing Strawberries and Lilies in our garden and quite another to receive a box of bulbs and shoots!

My husband heroically weeded a big plot for me that had overgrown with grass and laid some black cloth down over the dirt (to prevent weeds/grass from growing back). All I had to do, he said, was to cut small holes where I wanted to plant, then dig the little hole, put in the bulb/shoot, and then we’d cover the ground around the holes with mulch. This was so easy – for about the first ten! Suddenly I realized that I had ordered A LOT of plants, and I had quite a bit of work ahead even though Dave had done the hardest part! I tell you, an hour or so later, I was literally laying on the ground while I weakly dug the last hole, and I still had 30 anemone bulbs I just had to save to plant another day!

I’m laughing now as I think about this, because this feels like such an apt metaphor for life lately! I’ve been sensing that God is bringing our family into a season of tremendous blossoming and beauty, and wow, I’m so excited about that! I’ve been wanting to rush forward into that, I feel done with this season of gestation, and Dave and I are gaining a clearer sense of our direction as a family as well as personally – but to have healthy plants that bloom, you can’t hurry them. They need time to grow roots and to anchor themselves to the soil; and, when the rain comes, they will then benefit from it instead of being overwhelmed. I can’t just rush my blooming and go straight from the bulb of an idea to the blossom of living it out!

It is exciting to look ahead. I see some of the plants growing slightly leafier or taller, but many are still in the ground, and I find myself doubting that they really will grow. On the other hand, I know they are there, like the promise of something really beautiful.

Oh, Lord, you know the desires of my heart! You know the future, you know who I am becoming, and you are my Master Gardener. That is a relief for a little bulb like me. I’m sending out my tender little shoots as best as I can, but I am depending on you to bring me into full bloom!