THOUGHTS FROM BOUGAINVILLEA COTTAGE: I have a huge Avocado tree in my yard at Bougainvillea Cottage. Sleep in my guest bedroom on the second floor, and you’ll feel like you are sleeping in a tree house! Right now that tree is just full of beautiful Florida avocados; and I’m waiting, but not so patiently, for them to ripen! Avocado season ends with huge avocado leaves falling and covering every inch of my patio and back lawn and, subsequently, begins with the beautiful blush of green leaves followed by blooms covering the tree. Then, the blooms drop; and my patio and lawn appear to be covered with a fresh layer of show. Tiny little green beads appear. The little green beads begin to swell and grow, and I start thinking, “This tree is going to produce a boxcar load of avocados this year!” Alas, because there is not enough moisture being taken up by the roots to sustain them, the small fruit begins to drop because of the dry weather. Soon, the ground is littered with little avocados, and I begin to despair that I will be unable to harvest any fruit. The fruit is well camouflaged among the beautiful leaves. Only the squirrels that inhabit the avocado tree and the surrounding oak trees are able to see them. And see them they do! Now, with the summer rains, the avocados become larger; the squirrels begin their work; and, again, the ground is littered, now with much larger but immature avocados. Right now, as I nonchalantly walk across the yard brushing aside low hanging limbs, I am occasionally reminded of the law of inertia, “An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion,” when I am knocked almost senseless as my forehead encounters one of the now humongous avocados hiding among the leaves. With time, a select few of the thousands of avocados I first saw on the tree persist and grow into full size fruit. Now these are the most difficult days of all for me as I wait for them to completely mature and ripen. Just looking at the beautiful fruit makes me drool in anticipation; but one day soon, after much anticipation, I will again be rewarded with my first ripe avocado of the year …. a little vinegar, …. some salt and pepper, …. and Mmmmmmmmmmm! Now, when I moved into Bougainvillea Cottage, in that same yard I had a very healthy looking tree, a strange looking sort of citrus. It bloomed profusely and began developing very large fruit that looked like lemons. An old Florida native took one look at it and said, “It’s a wild lemon. Might as well cut it and burn it! It’s almost impossible to sweeten the juice enough to make it palatable.” He then proceeded to tell a hilarious story about putting a jar of the juice of the fruit from such a tree in his refrigerator to trick his mother-in-law who would drink and eat anything and everything citrus (Let me say right now, I would never have dreamed to play such a trick on my precious mother-in-law Annie. Number one: she was one of my best friends in the world ever; and, Number two: she would have killed me! LOL! But then …. I did have a couple of joker friends ………….. hmmmmm ….). Then another old Cracker friend told me his Mama made a killer pie from wild lemon juice; so, I immediately started researching every recipe I could find that used wild lemons. Well, the fruit matured, and I excitedly squeezed my first “wild lemon.” Then I cautiously tasted it, already kinda pre-puckered in anticipation …. but .………… NOTHING! Well, It did taste like water contaminated by kerosene. So, needless to say, I chopped that sucker down and put it out as horticultural waste to be carried away by the trash man. Sam, I don’t know if you’re listening to this, or reading this up there; but, you really made a bad call when you decided to planted that thing! MY PRAYER: Patient Gardener! You watched my enthusiasm as a new Christian who was going to evangelize the world. I was a young tree, full of bright green leaves and blossoms of hope and promise. You patiently watched as my enthusiasm waned during dry times and the fruit I anticipate producing dried up; You watched, more often than not saddened, as the root of indifference and bitterness sprang up in my life; You grieved with me as I felt condemned and abandoned because of wrong, hurtful teaching that I received in good faith and, unfortunately, shared with others. But, then Precious Patient Gardener, You continued watching with a loving, compassionate eye, encouraging me during times of soul-searching, of delving into scripture for myself, and ultimately of true spiritual awakening and revival. Now my ambitions continue each day to gradually change, no longer to change the world, but for you to change me into the person you created me to be. Holy Spirit, Patient Gardener, I pray that you continue to sustain me through the tough times. Encourage me to dance and rejoice in time of gladness. Make me into a strong tree that produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, humility, helpfulness and forgiveness. And Patient Gardener, help me to resist the persistent urge to allow the fruit of indifference or criticism or bitterness to emerge in my life. I want more than anything for you to savor the sweet aroma and taste of the fruit of your righteousness, your peace and your love in my life. Remind me each day of the all-encompassing sufficiency of your endless grace that is mine for the asking.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 17:38:31 +0000
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