Daffodils

 


The vibrance of the daffodils, tulips and other perennials make me smile every year.  

You know what I really love about them? That I only had to plant them once and they keep on coming back. As long as they get sunshine and water they keep blooming year after year.

But then I looked around my flower bed and do you know what else comes back year after year? Weeds. Lots and lots of weeds.  

I guess that's a lot like how life is.  There are some blessings we have that once we make the effort seem to just keep on giving.  There are also problems that have no difficulty cycling back through again and again.  

Sister Cheiko Okazaki instructed:

"But mortality is designed as part of the gospel plan to bring us mingled experiences with good and evil, that we may learn from experience to make wise choices. And many of these experiences are painful. In most congregations of sisters (and brothers), even in hearts and homes in apparently ideal circumstances, there are hidden heartaches and taxing challenges. At least some among you are survivors of abuse and other crimes of personal violence. Death or divorce can visit any home. Suffering comes from wasted potential, faltering faith, the decisions of a loved one who has used his or her free agency to make terrible choices that have wounded himself or herself and others. In your family, or in the family of someone close to you, is someone dealing with chronic mental, physical, or emotional illness; chemical dependency; financial insecurity; loneliness, sorrow, or discouragement? ...... Every family, whether struggling with problems that seem perennial or whether blessed by ideal circumstances, is a valuable, cherished, and beloved family. The Savior wants you to succeed. Heavenly Father loves you. We love you. We pray that you may be strengthened, that you may receive the help you need, and that you may extend help to others in need."

It is true that we may find ourselves with a lot of weeds in our lives we didn't intentionally plant.  But it is equally true that there are tender mercies blossoming with vibrance and splendor that can beautify even the most humble settings.  It might be daffodils and not orchids, but the effect can be the same in offering us encouragement, hope and signs of love from above.  What blossoms have you seen in your life lately?


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