Like a Shamrock Plant

I love house plants. In fact, I name my house plants. Mom is currently playing grandma to Phyllis the Philodendron. She is anxiously awaiting the day when I will come and take Phyllis back so that she won't have to worry about her anymore, but it's Mom's own fault - she taught me the love of house plants. When I was a little girl, my mom had a shamrock plant that I would watch. I always wanted to catch it closing its leaves in the evening for its "prayers." I never was successful. Somehow one minute it was open and the next it was closed. Or vice versa.

As I was strolling through the market not long after I moved here, I saw a shamrock plant and had to get it - a little piece of home - plus it just looks so happy. After several months of enjoying my plant, poor Sally got sick. So I read up on it - I may be a plant doctor in my next career - and discovered that shamrock plants are bulbs. Who knew?

I immediately began the prescribed treatment: let die completely, pinch back all stems, place in a cool, dark place for 2-3 months. I felt like I needed to tell her, like all good parents do, "Sally, this will hurt me more than it will hurt you." The problem is that the only dark place that I have was under my dresser which is next to the boiler closet, but it was the best I could do. But it was trying to know that I may have sent Sally to her death. Right before I left for the US, I pulled Sally back out of its hiding place, placed it in a sunny window, and began to water her.

Nothing.

But when I got back, I had a few tiny little sprigs that turn into more each day. Sally is coming back to life! Sometimes she doesn't grow very fast, or I can't see what's going on beneath the surface of the dirt, but she's slowly and surely becoming what God wants her to be.

Sometimes, our lives are like Sally's. There are the moments when we look our best, the moments when we hide from the world, the moments we are droopy and sad, the moments we are light and happy, the moments when God is working on us that we - or others - cannot see. But ultimately, Sally will be all that she is meant to be and through it all she will "pray" and live.

Lessons from a shamrock plant . . . amazing how simple things can give clarity when our hearts are open.

Teach me your ways, O Lord,
that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
so that I may honor you.
Psalm 86:11