Strength

Spring is on its way in, not that we had much of a winter, but some of the daffodils are in bloom! I was worried about them a week or two ago since we had some storms coming in, bringing on some really cold nights (I'm talking about 20 degrees or lower Fahrenheit). I'm constantly amazed at how hardy those flowers are! They may have drooped for a few days under the weight of snow, but they bounced back up. Thank goodness we're finally seeing some weather around here, but I'm not here to focus on the weather.

I've been going around inspecting the yard for other flowers coming out and I'm pleased to say that the mums are showing growth--I haven't killed them off yet. The tulips and hyacinths are coming out of the ground. Last, but not least, I've found our snapdragons are growing. One in particular has me really happy seeing it growing. When I inspected the grounds last year, it wasn't looking good. That plant appeared dead and throughout Spring and Summer it was barely leafing. I was really concerned that I'd seen the end of it after seeing it so healthy and happy looking the previous years. It's still small, but it's actively leafing, giving me a lot of hope that maybe we'll get a bloom out of it this year.

As I looked at the struggles that plant was going through, I found myself relating to it. Thinking about the past several years. Having to deal with a difficult job loss and the deaths of two close family members in such a narrow amount of time, I felt in some ways like this plant: Figuratively nearly losing my life and barely surviving. I found each emotional slam weigh me down even while I was trying to bounce back and live. But as this plant, I'm still fighting, and the signs of life are ever so slowly coming back just as this flower is doing. I don't know what lies ahead and whether I'll produce beautiful flowers as vibrant as before, but I know that as long as I try to do my best each day, I can trust in a beautiful result, whatever it may be. This flower and I, we're in it together.