LIFE RIGHT NOW ◽ YOU
What a Difference a Year Makes
by Jennifer Stephens
Four ugly evergreens. Well, it was five, but one had already withered away. Thank goodness. There I was staring at the four remaining shrubs. And I despised them. Such a dull, uninteresting "garden." When we moved in, they were there - along the side of the house, closest to the street, for all the world to see. This row of unsightly shrubs. And I wanted them G-O-N-E. After years of daydreaming about what this space could become, I finally convinced my husband it was time for them to go (maybe it was the bagworm infestation that actually persuaded him to reach for the chainsaw). Whatever the reason, it was time. With a sputtering engine and a brahp-brahp-brahp, it was done. What once held five tall evergreens was now an empty void in the landscape.
But I had plans for this blank space. Perennials! Pollinators! A garden painted with every color of the rainbow.
What a difference a year makes! These two pictures were taken exactly one year apart. 365 days. From a brown vacant patch to a lush colorful pollinator haven filled with daisies, zinnias, moonflowers, Black-eyed Susan, coneflowers, cleome, sunflowers, and milkweed. And bees. And butterflies. So many butterflies - like monarchs and silver-spotted skippers! It's even more beautiful than I'd imagined.
But it took time. Patience. Giving a passing glance to that brown empty space, one would assume growth had reached a standstill. Isn't that how it goes?
We're stuck in the brown empty doldrums of life and it seems like nothing is ever going to change. But it does. We adapt. Evolve. We keep going even when it's hard. Even when it seems impossible. The seeds are planted. And we wait.
Maybe the idea of waiting a year seems too far away. But a day. A day is possible. What a difference a day makes. 24 hours. Maybe it's a rotten, lonely day. A brokenhearted, rainy, gray sky, chilly air kind of day. We may not see it today, but tomorrow, the sun shines brighter and it's hot. Almost too hot. But it's no longer gray.
Maybe it's one hour at a time. What a difference an hour makes. 60 minutes. It's the paralyzing fear of the dreaded dentist appointment kind of day. If we remind ourselves after just one hour the buzz of glaring lights and din of scraping teeth will be finished - and we can treat ourselves with something special, like a shopping spree - we can muster the courage to walk inside the door.
When life feels empty, dreary, or dreadful, stick around because it can, it will, all change, like a brown, barren garden space becoming a pollinator’s paradise. With God we can be certain He is at work filling the emptiness, restoring the broken, and removing the fear. It might take an hour, a day, or even a year, but it WILL get better.
“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
Romans 8:25