As you can imagine, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Every time I stand at the sink, a smile forms and my countenance lifts. This Christmas cactus has a lot to do with it. It is of those humble origins of Christmas clearances of yesteryear, via my mom.
To my and the girlies' delight, sometime around Thanksgiving, a lone blossom emerged.
And I was content, so very content.
Gardening and parenting run parallel, in my opinion.
There is so much work done, when it looks like nothing is going on,
as if nothing is being accomplished.
The promise of a single blossom after a dormant time this past year and the fear I'd killed this cactus despite faithfully caring for it over the last 365 days was encouragement for my soul every time I stood before the kitchen sink, preparing to wipe another counter top or fetch another girlie snack.
2017 stands before me in all of its blank slate glory
and my goals remain much the same as in years' past.
Spiritually discipling the Blossoms,
furthering their education,
developing their work ethic,
exposing them to a big world that needs Jesus,
becoming a better, more humble and loving wife,
being a better and healthier version of myself,
growing closer to Jesus
and representing Him to my family and the world in a way that pleases Him
are all things that weigh heavy on my heart each December to January transition.
I'm fine with the same old, same old goals, tweaked a little here and there
because of the unction I feel to persevere.
To persevere when there is a dormant time.
To persevere when all seems lost.
To persevere when the watering seems pointless.
To persevere when the ground seems fallow.
To persevere when there's a humble bloom.
To persevere when I can see the growth and when I can't.
To simply persevere.
