I'm from Missouri and I miss the bulb flowers that come out at the first hints of spring. They have such glorious colors, and some have breathtaking fragrance. A few days after Christmas I found paperwhite bulbs on sale (50% off!), and brought them home. At first I felt guilty: I could've saved those few dollars for something else, something practical. But I didn't.
I planted them and I think they started growing from day one. I would sing to them, and talk to them, and they would grow an inch overnight (I checked with my ruler to make sure!). Earlier this week their little buds got fatter and fatter, and whiter and bumpier. And then...
Voila! Fragrant paperwhite blossoms in my living room; sweet little clusters of joy heralding the arrival of spring in our household!
I was enchanted with the whole process, and it caught my imagination with its symbolism. I watched those little buds from the moment they popped their small green heads from the dirt. I watched as they plumped up and grew taller. I watched as I could start to see the clusters mature inside their green cocoon, becoming knobby and brimming with life. Inside that tight little bud the flowers were growing. Their world was dark, but they knew they were meant to live beyond the bud, to burst with life from their prison. The resistance of the green bud encouraged them to become strong and perseverant, intent on escaping the dark. They knew what they were intended to be, and they pursued it. They overcame.
Does that remind you of anything?
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:2-5
