Mystery Bulbs
During the good soaking rain that we got from Hurricane Gustav last week, a circle of little white bulbs popped out of the ground circling the tree close to my back door. I thought that maybe the dirt had washed away with so much rain and I probably should cover them again – just a passing thought that did not lead to any action. To my surprise, yesterday when I woke up those bulbs had sprouted and shot up 4 inches overnight! Each sprout is a single stalk rising toward the sky with a bulge at the top.
What could it be? I thought most bulbs bloomed in the spring – were these bulbs confused, misguided? – Whatever they were, they were growing and about to bloom. They seemed to know what they were doing even if I didn’t have a clue! I asked others, hoping that someone could tell me what they are, but no one has given me an answer. Someone said, “You’ll just have to wait and see!”
I sent the photo of the sprouts out to my family. One daughter-in-law suggested spider-lilies, but my brother said that spider lilies have red stalks – these are green. At any rate, I should have an answer in another day at the rate they are growing.
In pondering my serendipitous sprouting bulbs, I am reminded of New Beginnings, not the Sunday School Class I visited Sunday, but the new beginnings we all have at different times at our lives – sometimes by choice and sometimes by a turn of events out of our control. I am at one of those times, beginning a new ministry in a new place - a new beginning – a sprouting bulb! I am captivated by the hope of new possibilities – what will it look like? What color will the final bloom be? – and most importantly, will God be pleased with what we do together?
Some of you may be at one of those ‘new beginnings’ times in your lives – what will the end result be? When there are more questions than answers, we turn to our faith – for we walk by faith and not by sight! Keep the faith! Keep the hope alive – the best is yet to be!
The first verse of the “Hymn of Promise” goes like this: “In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree; in cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free! In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be, unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.” That is so true of our lives, as we trust in God, we know that the outcome of the new beginnings is truly, “something God alone can see”.
