Didn't expect that to happen...

Spring is in the air. The breezes are getting warmer, the grass is getting greener, and most importantly, my daffodils are starting to bloom! I always get excited when those happy little flowers make their first appearance. It takes me back to when I was young and my mom would point them out to me. Their bright yellow faces lifted toward the sun somehow fill my heart with hope every time I see them.

My sweet husband has always given me daffodils in the spring. After a few weeks of enjoying them indoors, he takes them outside and plants them. I thought I knew where each one was located - that is until today. Somehow a new batch of daffodils has shown up in my yard! I noticed them when I returned from my afternoon run. In the middle of one of the azalea bushes, I could see the faint yellow of daffodils! I picked up my pace to check them out. They were different from any of the other flowers in my yard. These flowers had a softer yellow hue and they showed off their ruffled center with a certain feminine flair that my bolder flowers didn't quite have the hang of. I was thrilled!

The only thing was, the azalea bush was sort of crowding out the flowers! Now I like azaleas as much as the next person - okay....that's not quite true. I don't particularly like these azaleas. They don't bloom very often and they seem to make an awful lot of work every spring. Now they were crowding out my beloved daffodils and I without hesitation went to get the clippers. There was nothing to do but cut away the offending limbs so my daffodils could shine.

I was very careful to cut away from around the flowers and not damage the tender green shoots. What I did not seem to notice was that with every cut, the flowers started to droop a little more. By the time I had finished the "trim" at least 3 of the blooms fell toward the ground! Try as I might, I couldn't get them to stand straight on their own. What I thought had been an obstacle for my daffodils had actually been a support! Those limbs were allowing that gentle plant to make flowers that stood taller than any others around them.

And then I looked at my life and wondered - am I making the same mistake in other areas as well? My children immediately came to mind. I so want them to have a life free from burdens and pain. I want them to have so many more advantages than I did...but by removing some of the obstacles, am I keeping them from reaching as high as God wants them to go? Perhaps that which I am trying to remove is actually what He will use to help them shine. I definitely don't have all the answers on this one.

I eventually had to cut one of the blooms because nothing I tried would help it stand again. It now is in a vase in my kitchen and while it is beautiful, this daffodil makes me a bit sad. Sometimes it's hard to learn life's lessons.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’” (Jeremiah 29:11)
"...yet not my will, but Yours be done." Luke 22:42b