Wednesday, July 1, 2009

our little hibiscus...

So I'm feeling a little cheesy and emotional, so bear with me as I tell you the tale of our hibiscus tree.

My mom and I went "flower shopping" in the early summer. She has a green thumb, and I tend to kill everything I touch so between the two of us I figured she could find something that could at least survive in our yard.

After finding a couple of bushes and lilies that were "hearty" enough for someone like me to maintain, we grabbed a hibiscus tree on the way out. Lyla and I fell in love with our little tree and the "baby flowers" that bloomed.

After about a week with a few flowers, a series of thunderstorms with high winds, hard rains and sporadic hail went through Omaha, and our hibiscus tree was not doing so hot. After the thunderstorms subsided I noticed that the leaves on our tree had holes in them and the flowers were covered in little white bugs. By the end of the storms and bug infestation, our tree had no flowers and no leaves. It had been stripped pretty much bare.

Instead of throwing the tree away, we propped it between two iron deck chairs (so in case of high winds it wouldn't fall over... again) and have meticulously watered it every day. I thought it was a goner, but our little tree has slowly found new life, new beautiful flowers, and new leaves... and as I was staring at it today God gave me a little extra glimmer of his love.

The moral of the story: I am in the season of thunderstorms and bugs. Hopefully by being propped up between God and his son Christ Jesus, I can continue to stand up. By the end of this season, hopefully I can emerge with a renewed perspective and faith. I won't have the same flowers and leaves, my trunk may be a little crooked and more vulnerable, but my new flowers and leaves can bloom more than ever with hope and a love I have never felt so deeply.

So you're thinking "wow, that lady is really pregnant" and you're probably right. But I'm going to cry a little bit and thank God for my hibiscus tree and his promise to sustain and refine my faith, which is of greater worth than gold.

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

1 Peter 1: 6-9


5 comments:

  1. Hey Lindsey,
    Just wanted you and John to know once again that Dennis and I are praying for you. God is fully able to sustain You--but I think you already know that! We love you!

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  2. Such a beautiful analogy, Lindsey. Thank you for sharing it with us. Praying for you! :)

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  3. Hi, Lindsey. First time to visit your blog...such a blessing to read your heart thoughts.
    Wanted to say hi and let you know I am continuing to pray for all of you.
    I love seeing little Evie's face! Thanks for sharing her latest picture!

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  4. What a beautiful post. Thank you for sharing that. I've got my brother, his wife, and their entire church praying. (They live in Malakoff Texas which is not far from Athens, Texas)

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  5. Lindsey, your moral is beautiful and poignant and so right on. I hope you don't mind my borrowing it for myself. Our circumstances are different, yet similar enough that what God spoke to your heart that day, He used to speak to me today. You're right. This is a season. A dark one, BUT GOD is still good and will still cause good to come from these long days. Thanks again for your transpasrency.

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