Pansies the Gift of Joy

I have always loved to garden, but I guess like cooking we tend to stay with the familiar and not try new things. One fall several years ago my youngest son had a field trip and not wanting to ride in the bus, imagine that, I drove myself. It was quite a ways from home and in a rural area. On the way I noticed a cute little nursery beside the road, it was colorful and looked friendly, you know what I mean, so on the way home I stopped for a visit. This was a small independent nursery run by a woman who loved gardening and shared her plants and ideas to make a living.

It was fall and the time I usually think of mums and bulbs, but here were all these cute pansies calling out to me. I don’t know why but I had never had pansies in my yard. My first thought was, ‘they are too delicate’ and though our winters are mild-it is still too cold for many things. I read the tag and was surprised to see they are a fall, winter plant so I decided to give them a try. I loved those precious pansies. Even when it was cold enough to shrivel me up-they just sat in my flower bed blooming and in my mind they were as happy as could be.

It is sad to think my first impression could have kept me from the joy they brought to me. I stepped out my door, and there they were blooming and being beautiful. So while I was thanking the Lord for this treasure it occurred to me, there is a lesson here for me. God’s lessons are usually about people so that is where I let my mind wander.

I think there are people who on first glance seem ‘too fragile’ or ‘too high-maintenance’, whatever that means in your book. I think I may have missed out on some beautiful blooms in my life because I was too quick to judge that ‘they’ would not fit in ‘my’ flower garden.

There is a familiar slogan we often hear, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” When it comes to us it means be prepared, don’t run an errand and hope you don’t see anyone you know. We don’t want them to think this is ‘me’-- this is me working in the garden. So let’s put the glove on the other hand. I am thinking that we need to remember that our first impression of someone else could be the one bad day, hour or moment of their whole week. If we decide based on a thin slice of evidence what someone else is ‘like’ and let that frame them-we have both lost out.

Oops!! Do I think I can’t have a bad day and appear too fragile or need too much attention? Forgive me Lord and help me to see the treasures all around me that You see. Add some spice and variation to my garden, new smells and surprises that You have prepared for me.