Lessons from nature

 I got a moth orchid last year on the last day of school from a student.  I thought it was beautiful and I enjoyed the pretty flowers.  I had never had a moth orchid before so I researched a bit how to take care of it.

The blossoms eventually fell off and I was left with two sticks above some greenery.  One of them shriveled and died.

I watered it very minimally (following my research) and kept it in the kitchen window, where it seemed happy.  I didn't know if it would ever bloom again.

Sometime in early May, it got buds on the stick!  It was going to bloom again!

Except it didn't.

The buds got fatter and fatter, but they didn't bloom.  Another small shoot started up and it had some tiny buds on it.  Things were happening.

Except they weren't.

The buds did nothing for about 6 weeks.

They finally bloomed mid June!

This is how it looked after our trip:

And this is how it looked yesterday:

I was telling Braeden about it (he is after all my shaman and we talk about things like this) and I told him that I couldn't rush it.  It bloomed when it was ready.  He said I could have killed it trying to make it bloom faster.  He said, "You could have given it too much water or plant food."

It reminded me of this quote I have on my desk by Beth Moore:

Give it time.  God is at work underground. Quit trying to force fruit that is not yet due.

I am no one's idea of a patient person so I appreciate my moth orchid teaching me to wait.