Some dear and wonderful friends of ours sent us a Butterfly Orchid upon hearing the news of the arrival of our youngest son. It was a very thoughtful and unique gift; I've never received a plant like an orchid before.
It was beautiful - with four complete blooms on one long stem and lots of green healthy leaves coming up out of the soil. The instructions that came with the orchid said that if I cared properly for it, it would live for years and years and even told me that I should plan on repotting it every second year!! I was intrigued and read all the instructions through several times.
I added some glass marbles to the bottom of the decorative container so that the plant in its small pot with holes in the bottom would be able to receive moisture from the water that I would pour into the container, but not be sitting in the water itself.
I bought a mister to mist the plant leaves, I picked a place in my den for the orchid that is right next to an east facing window because this particular type of orchid likes morning sun.
I bought a moisture gauge to track how moist the soil in the pot was, because I had read that orchids like to get pretty much completely dry before being watered again.
Every morning I would come down to my office and check the moisture, mist the plant and add a little bit of water to the base container. Everything was going according to plan, and quite frankly, I was having a good deal of fun caring for this beautiful living thing.
Then, it happened...
The blooms started to wither and die. I was sad when the first one went, but hey, I've got three more still on the plant. Then the second one went. Now I was starting to look intensely at my plant each day in hopes that I would find either new buds on the existing stem, or another stem coming up that would bud and give me more glorious blooms to enjoy. When the third one went, I knew it wouldn't be long until all the purple loveliness was gone. Sure enough, the final blossom withered away and then the stem itself began to turn yellow and die.
I kept my hopes up for several days that another blooming was just around the corner; but morning after morning, nothing but green greeted me.
And then another strange thing happened...
I started to lose interest in caring for my orchid. The thrill was gone; now it was just going to be work. I'm ashamed to admit that I even 'skipped' a few days of checking on it, misting it, watering it.
In the midst of this, I realized that there was a lesson to learn here. There are times in my life when I burst forth in beauty, blessing all who are around. I'm a magnificent testimony to my Creator. Then, the blossoms fade and fall off, and I go back to being just another green plant, in a green garden on a green earth.
But my Heavenly Father never stops caring for me. He knows just what I need and when I need it. He mists me with His presence; He waters me from His Word. He knows that there will be another season of blooming, and He's bound and determined to get me from here to there.
If only we were as patient, kind and gentle with ourselves and everyone else around us as God is!
So, now I'm dutifully caring for my orchid with determination. And I suspect that the next time it flowers, I'm going to be even more awed at the beauty because this time I've had to work for it.
--Peter
