Hydrangea Encouragement

Any growth, no matter how small, is worth celebrating.

Every year, beginning in the late spring and stretching into the summer, I am blessed with gorgeous hydrangeas. I usually cut some and bring them into the house and I still have plenty of huge cheerful blooms to greet me when I arrive home from work each day. 

Most of them are gifts from parents at the school where I used to work and that makes them even more special.

But, this year, they didn’t bloom even though I did my part.  I covered them when we had a late frost to protect them. I watered and fed them and nothing happened. They were green, but they didn’t bloom from May all the way into June, but then in late June, one tiny bloom emerged. I was thrilled to see it. Since it was the only one, I watched it carefully.

It seemed to take a long time to grow, but when it did, it was a different color than mine usually are. It was unique and I was just as proud of the one, as I usually was of the dozens.

As I was thinking about the amount of time I have put in on those hydrangea bushes only to get one bloom and of how delighted I have been about that one bloom, I am reminded about how much God delights in us when He sees growth.

Sometimes we get it right and we bloom and flourish with the fruits of the Spirit. We pray, read our Bibles and worship and serve and make a huge Kingdom impact and I know He’s proud of us. But, at other times, we stumble. Sometimes our lives grow dark through unforeseen circumstances or bad choices and we get lost along the way and fail to bloom.

Still, His love for us never changes and when we do find our way back and manage even the tiniest bloom, I imagine Him delighting in the new growth, just as I did with my lone hydrangea bloom and I am encouraged. Perhaps you needed some encouragement today too.

Have an awesome day! 

Wendy 😊