The Lesson

For weeks I've been wanting to write about the Morning Glories and
Moon Flowers that coexist in a pot just outside our kitchen window.
Now that Jack Frost has made his appearance and the fragile blooms
are beginning to fade, I feel an urgency to convey the lesson I have
learned from their grandeur.

As a side note for those of you who don't consider yourself plant
lovers, Morning Glories bloom each morning when the sun begins to
rise. In the evening they close up, and that's when the Moon Flowers
begin to open. This particular variety of Morning Glories is blue in
color while the Moon Flower variety is pink. One has to be a true
night-owl to view Moon Flowers while Morning Glories can be enjoyed
all day long. These two very different plants have spoken volumes to
me the past few months as I have watched them climb the ornamental
windmill that gave them support during their growth.

I believe God used the Morning Glories and Moon Flowers to show me
not only how two very different plants can coexist nicely in the same
pot, but also how two very opposite human beings can coexist nicely
in the same space. The more time the plants spent together the
stronger they became -- leaning on each other, intertwined as they
climbed higher. The plants haven't just survived in that pot together,
they have literally thrived reaching to the top of the 8' windmill.
Just like those two plants, the more time semi-retirement affords my
husband and I, the stronger we will become leaning on one another,
our lives intertwined.

One thing I know for sure, when the leaves turn color and begin to
fall, when the days turn cold and snow covers the ground, I will look
at the windmill and remember the lesson God taught me this summer.
I trust we won't just survive the days of semi-retirement . . . we will
thrive!