My first thought was: “Well, I’ve killed another one.” No, it wasn’t a spider. Rather, it was a small potted plant that I had had for 6 years.
If you know me, then you’re well aware that I’m the kiss of death for plants. That’s no exaggeration. In my article: “Weed Garden,” I talked about how I couldn’t even grow weeds as a kid. When I was nineteen years old, I bought two plants that kinda looked like big leaves. Maybe they were elephant ears. I named each one after a star constellation and I sat them in the windows in my bedroom. Every day I watered them and talked to them. Even though I had heard that plants liked being talked to, I felt really weird doing that.
Now, I have to talk about my Mamaw Girdle/Myrtle and her amazing green thumb. As a child, I watched her tending to her plants outside of the carport while singing hymns. The flowers were always so lush and pretty. Not only did I not inherit her green thumb, I didn’t get her singing voice either. That’s why I talked to my plants. I didn’t want my singing voice to shrivel up their leaves. Unfortunately, they died after a couple of weeks anyway. I decided they were my last try at having plants.
In 2020, one of our neighbors gave us a small potted plant. I thanked them even though I felt sorry for the little guy. I sat it in in the window behind the kitchen sink. Naturally, I expected it to soon shrivel up and die. It didn’t. Instead, it actually flourished. It grew a twig with new green blooms on it. I was absolutely amazed. Talk about a miracle. I checked the moistness of the soil ever couple of days and made sure it was receiving lots of sun. There were a few times where I over watered it. Instead of soaking into the dirt, the water stood on top of it. When that happened, I would carefully remove the plant from behind the blind and pour out the excess water into the sink. A couple of times, some of the soil fell out as well. I quickly packed it back in and hoped for the best. Amazingly, the plant didn’t die.
Tim told me I needed to replant it into a bigger pot. I didn’t want to because I was afraid of killing it. Yes, I know that I had kinda did that when the soil had previously fell into the sink, but I didn’t want to risk it. I told him he could do it, but we never looked for another pot. Then one fateful day, I decided to water it. Again, I poured a little too much water into it. As I had done before, I lifted the blind to pull out my little plant. That’s when I heard: “SNAP!” The twig had caught in the blind and snapped off of it. I simply couldn’t believe what I had just done. That’s when I thought: “Well, I’ve killed another one.” Next, I became angry at myself for ruining six years of real plant success. I almost picked it up to throw it in the trash. Why not since it was it was soon going to die. Then I realized that I was giving up way too quickly. My next move was to place the broken end of the plant back into the soil. I watered it and placed it back in window. Within a few days, it had new blooms.
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Philippians 1:6 (KJV)
I am so thankful that The Lord doesn’t give up on us the way we give up on others or even ourselves. Now, that doesn’t mean that He will make things easy for us or that we will understand any of it. So, hang in there and see what new blooms in which He may bless you with.
Will I buy any more plants for the window? Probably not any real ones. If I do, they’ll be artificial.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.