This week I realized another lesson in this beautiful iris. My mother somehow saved some of the iris from the Valley Mills farm in WV where she grew up. They were growing there in the late 1800s. Throughout her life she continued to move some rhizomes with her, continuing to share their beauty with family and friends, and later I did the same. On one of our moves I forgot to take any iris with me and went back to ask the new owner if he would allow me to have a few rhizomes. “No.” Caught off guard I proceeded to explain why it was so important to me. Again, “No”. Not one to give up I pressed on and he finally allowed me one. He supervised my getting that one.
Today I have a large Valley Mills iris bed that has been divided and shared many times over the years since I rescued that one strong family rhizome. Today as I pushed a little extra hard to make some things on my to-do list happen I looked at this beautiful iris bed and realized that I have been like this wonderful family flower. We have to go through many changes in our lives and not all are in friendly familiar places. But we can continue to pursue beauty without losing our own, and we can refuse to accept what may appear to be a dead end. Faith does not make things happen, but it certainly can make them possible. Believing in our own strength can help us be that next generation to pass God’s beauty to others. You can be like that one rhizome and keep your strength and beauty for others.
Faith makes it possible.
Nancy