Planting Hope

I’ve never been an outdoorsy, swinging from the trees,  being one with nature type of girl. I don't 'do' amphibians or reptiles and I don't understand how people can swim in the water when there are actual living things touching them. This city girl will take an air-conditioned, bug-free room, with an ice cold glass of lemonade over the green stuff that makes her itchy, any day of the week. However, raising two girls in the south changes things a little. They cry to go outside and cry when it’s time to come in. I’ve been taking baby steps and have actually discovered that I LOVE reading outside. On a blanket. While constantly checking for ant piles and flying things. There’s something so refreshing about the sunlight peeking through the fence and sitting on the lap of Mother Earth.

To tap into my nonexistent ‘gardening’ side, I added ‘plant something and keep it alive’ to our Spring Bucket List. As we perused our community’s annual festival last weekend, we found a batch of yellow perennials (I think) being sold for a buck. I looked at Little Miss and said, “That’s our plant!” When I bought the plant, I asked how to take care of it and he responded with, “Sunlight. . .  and keep it moist”. Sounds simple enough. . . right?

Today we decided to cross one off the list and repot it. Of course we would soon find that the pots we had for it were too small. So, we are temporarily using my new glass vase until we find a larger pot. Let’s just say, I almost resorted to a Tupperware bowl before handing over my new vase.

 

While Little Miss worked on our new plant, I took a look at one that I received from a student a year ago. It was a gift for Teacher Appreciation Week, I believe, and she was so excited. I was excited!  A classroom plant in a pretty pot? Say what?! We can have a classroom job, and give it a name (that’s normal right?), and it can sit in the window near the writing center! You can’t go wrong with a plant. Friends, I proved that theory wrong quickly. Overtime that excitement died down and the anticipated care and responsibility became a chore. It was watered when I found time or remembered that it existed. When the school year ended and it came home with me, it was placed outside where it sat, and sat, for an entire year. Wow.

When I think about it, this habit isn’t a new one. It’s one of my many struggles. I bounce around in a lot of areas of my life. Specifically, when it comes to my relationship with my creator, spending time with Him sometimes becomes just that, a chore. Something that is beneficial and necessary, but because of my other desires, not something that I want to do at the moment. So there are seasons when my Bible sits and sits. There are times when he whispers my name, and I can’t hear or choose not to because “I’ll do it later” or “He’ll understand that I’m busy”. Because of my personality trait, if I have a to-do list, the fun things get done first. My list says ‘clean the toilets’ and ‘paint eggs with Little Miss’, we’re taking out the vinegar baby! I know it’s perfectly normal, but after recently studying how to live with intention, I’ve realized that I have to deliberately do what needs to get done.

 

As far as my relationship with God, I wonder who’s the plant?

Am I the neglecting caretaker that waters my plant when I need something pretty to look at?

Or am I the wilting plant, dried up in my mess, while His sunlight is constant?

Either way I want to be repotted. I want to be uprooted from my selfish ways and fears. I want God to use his mercy and remove me from my pot of insecurities and plant me in His image. This girl worries, I mean all the time. I want my roots to be grounded in Him, no longer clinging to the lies of the world or the sinful tugs at my heart. If I’m the plant I want to stretch my limbs to the most high, and whisper, “Water me. I need you. . . desperately”. If I’m the caretaker, I want to pay close attention to the needs of my plant and purposely give it the necessary care it deserves. How else will it grow?

Well, friends, normal or not, we decided to name our plants. Our newbie will go by Sunlight.

And my old friend?

Well, her name is Hope.

Until we land again,

Jeanell

Update: My mother, who has a green thumb, 'kindly' informed me that my plant was in fact dead and there was no saving her. Since then, she has helped me to repot plants and thankfully they are still alive.