An Easter Reflection
Forgotten Things and Blessings
My orchid is blooming! I have never had an orchid to bloom again. Generally, after a while, I just throw them out. I have no idea how to care for them. I want to be a houseplant person, but I am not good at keeping them watered correctly. But this little orchid was given to me one and half years ago by my daughter in law. She brought it to me after my surgery for breast cancer. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in August of 2023. One month before our fortieth anniversary. We had planned a huge family celebration in Napa, California. We still made the trip. It was fabulous to have all my kids and two daughter in laws to celebrate with us surrounded by the beauty of Napa grape vines. I scheduled the surgery for after we got back. Fortunately my breast cancer was caught very early. I only needed a Lumpectomy operation and then five rounds of Radiation. I know so many are not so fortunate.
When my daughter in law brought me the plant it had beautiful blooms on it. I sat it in my kitchen window. Once the blooms faded away, it sat in its little pot with nothing but the dried up stem the blooms had clung to and its deep dark green leaves. I often forgot to water it. Sometimes it would go for weeks without water. I thought about just throwing it out but those deep dark green leaves just filled the kitchen window spot with life and color. And it was a gift from my daughter in law. Her own mother died of cancer several years ago. Each time I looked at that little plant, I thought of her. So I kept it. A couple of months ago, I bought a mister for another house plant my husband had bought me. I really want to be a houseplant person. So, I’m trying. The plants instructions suggested to keep it moist by misting it every day. So each day I misted my new plant and decided maybe that neglected orchid might enjoy that too.
Several weeks ago I was examining the little pot and noticed these strange round growths on one of the roots that had tumbled over the edge. Then I realized it was flower buds. Over the next several weeks those little buds started opening up with these beautiful blooms. I placed it on this tray with other spring items. Each of these items represent spring and new life to me. The plants, the smell of the candle, the decorated eggs and the cross for Easter.
On this tray is also an Amaryllis plant. It was free. A bulb that nobody bought at the plant store and so they were giving them away when my husband purchased another house plant for me. I found a pot and I planted the bulb according to the directions. I do not think it will bloom this year, but those tall lime green leaves!
As I looked at these items on this tray, I wondered at the beauty of unwanted and neglected things. I think there are times in life we feel unwanted or neglected. I know I have. These human feelings are real and sometimes jump out at us glaringly. This may seem so simple minded but I have found in my life that it’s the little things that speak the loudest at times. This Holy Week I have been focusing on lamenting the losses I have felt over the last few weeks and years. They are not life losses but as things change in our life there are losses that we grieve. The loss of friendships or relationships, the loss of a job, the loss of life as you knew it. Changes come unexpectantly at times and leave us devastated or drained. But there can be beauty. Not the struggle itself but in the struggle. My little orchid reminds me of that. People may forget or neglect us in our times of struggle but God never does. He shows up in little things of beauty reminding us that he is still there even if it doesn’t feel like he is.
I have had a tough emotional few weeks. If you have followed me for long, you know that we care for my Intellectually Disabled sixty six year old brother. He can have mood swings and anger issues but he can also be fun and loving. You can read about our life with him below. It is the makeup of who he is with his disability. I have had some sleepless nights and anxiety. I believe the blooming of this little plant was Gods gift to me. Though I had mostly neglected it, it shows me Beauty in the midst of struggle.
I wonder if that is part of what Holy Week teaches us. The denial of Jesus by his followers, the betrayal of Judas, the horrific act of crucifixtion. Jesus cried out “My God, My God why have you forsaken me.” He gave us permission to cry out to God in our desperation and pain. To ask with all the emotion we have— WHY GOD? I do not look at the “beauty of the cross”. There is nothing beautiful in crucifixion. I have a different perspective of that now. But I do look at the beauty of Resurrection. What seems forgotten is given hope, what seemed dead is now alive. That is the hope I have. No matter what I face, I can cry out to God in my darkest moments and he doesn’t get mad, even if I am yelling at him. And He sometimes shows up in the simplest of ways,
Like my blooming orchid at Easter.
May you find Jesus this Easter even in the smallest of things. Thats what Easter is.
Hope, Resurrection and Restoration.
The great deception that we human beings practice on ourselves is that we can get ourselves out of the fix we are in—but today we know that we cannot follow through on it. We look at ourselves today with the Savior’s eyes. Jesus looks at us, and he knows that we cannot help ourselves. He looks at us this very day in the same way he looked at every human being that he encountered during his earthly life: with infinite sadness for our predicament, yet with UNQUENCHABLE LOVE AND WITH UNFLINCHING RESOLVE to rescue us from certain condemnation and death, whatever it took, wherever it led, whatever the price. “Self-help” is crucified with Christ. Fleming Rutledge —Means of Grace
If you are new and haven’t read my stories of Life with my brother You can access them below.
How beautiful to experience the blooming orchid, after your tender, faithful care. Just a little mist each day was all it needed to spring to life. It does seem like some seasons are like that, doesn’t it?
Janet, I am so drawn to your beautiful little tray, filled with Easter remembrances. That little gift to us, along with your thoughtful words is a sweet music to my ears. He is risen indeed!