Late bloomers are no less spectacular than the early ones.
Last weekend, we were blessed with gorgeous weather on Saturday. I went out for a walk, not only for exercise, but also to bask in the warmth. There were so many beautiful trees and shrubs blooming in my neighborhood, that I wish I had a camera.
One thing that I kept noticing, was that while many of the azaleas were finished blooming, the ones in the shade of the trees, were going strong. They were just getting started. As I came back to my own house, I could see that my huge pink azaleas that had been beautiful just a few weeks earlier, had turned brown.
It always makes me a little sad every year, when they go from beautiful to brown. Their time had passed. But, then I glimpsed my azaleas that were underneath the oak trees. They were vibrant.
I thought about those azaleas all afternoon and into the evening. I thought about how in nature, different plants bloom at different times. Sometimes it has to do with the season. Sometimes it’s dependent on the amount of water and sunlight they are getting, and sometimes it simply has to do with where they are planted.
The azaleas in the shade bloom just as spectacularly as the ones in the direct sun; they just do it later. The late bloomers are just as beautiful and significant as the early bloomers.
The azaleas remind me that people are similar. We rarely bloom at the same time. Some of us hit our sweet spot very early and some of us don’t find it until much later in life as a second act. But, either way, we all have the opportunity to bloom and share something beautiful with the world.
The azaleas also remind me that sometimes we bloom and contribute and feel very much on track for a season and other times we are just barely hanging on. Yet with patience and perseverance, we can come back to a season of blooming, just like they do every single year.
If you woke up today, God is not done with you. He still has things to teach you and you still have beauty to share. It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, or what season you may find yourself in, or even where you have been planted. The possibilities are endless when we allow God to grow us.
Some azaleas reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂