I really like these flowers. I love the lush, green vine dotted with the delicate flowers. I love the tall, stately, bright sun flowers that rest right below. I drive past them every day. They are my ‘adios’ every morning and my ‘welcome home’ every evening.
If you look carefully at the photo, you’ll notice that the flowers are growing on top of and around a fence. In my neighborhood, we have alleys. On my street, specifically, we have a backyard, a small strip of grass, an alley, a brick wall and then 6 lanes of traffic. These flowers were planted on that small patch of grass between my neighbor’s fence line and the alley.
It seems a bit wasteful, doesn’t it? Who plants flowers in an alley? Who’s even going to see them back there? The flowers don’t know where they are planted. They don’t know that they are sandwiched between fence and cement. They don’t complain about the exhaust, noise or even their crummy view. They were planted there by someone, who tends to their needs, and they bloom. Every year.
In Job 12, vs 7-10, Job tells us, ” If you want to learn, then go and ask the wild animals and the birds, the flowers and the fish. Any of them can tell you what the Lord has done. Every living creature is in the hands of God.” As Christians, we believe that God has a plan and purpose for each one of us. While we may not enjoy our surroundings, God has us there for a reason. The reason may be something as simple as merely being the face of Christianity to someone that you deal with on a daily basis, or you may be there awaiting your divine appointment. You may even be actively trying to get out of our surroundings- what you don’t see is that across from this fence is a pole wrapped in the same coral colored flowers. Somehow, they managed to spread their blooms across the alley way and onto another surface. Regardless of where you are now and where you are heading, bloom. Be fruitful. Bring some color to where you are. Spread some joy.
I see these flowers everyday and it’s a reminder to me: This is my life, what am I going to do with it? Am I going to bloom or shrink away?
~Shiney
