One day Jesus told his disciples a story to
show that they should always pray and never give up. Luke 18:1 NLT
It finally got to me. The little miniature ixora
had been tossed aside with no regard as to whether it would live or die. I didn’t
care if it died. Five years ago it had been planted with much care in the
center planter on the far side of the pool. It was the choice spot. It was the
spot that drew the eye as one looked out from the kitchen window to gaze into
the back yard, a semi-circular planter in the center on the far side of the
screened enclosure. There are two other planters, one in each corner of the far
side, but the center spot is the prime location. The ixora, along with three
others, accented the hibiscus that grew larger and taller in the middle, two of
them on each side of it.
Each year I looked forward to some growth
and to the tiny, yellow flowers they produced. Each year was a disappointment.
They did not grow and produced few flowers.
I gave up on them. I replaced them with some deep blue phlox that, I
must say, looked absolutely stunning from the kitchen window in the light of
the morning sun.
With nary a thought, the ixoras were shoved
into a used pot, thrown aside and left for dead by the fence. All of them died,
but one. It wouldn’t. Shaded by the oaks overhanging the fence from the
neighbor’s yard and clinging to the bit of soil that had not been shaken off
when all four of them were uprooted, it refused to die. Every now and then, as
I regularly mowed the grass, I would notice it, mildly surprised at its
tenacity. Months went by. It lived. Through the spring and the last gasp of
summer, it lived.Finally, two weeks ago, I took pity on it and replanted it in the front yard in the bed that is in front of my office window. I have not watered it. With the constant rains of the last month, I have not needed to. There it has thrived. Last Sunday afternoon, I took notice of the new, green leaves that have begun to sprout and smiled.
Blessings to you all,
Jerald
