Surprise!

This is what I love about gardening, the surprise of finding new growth—especially when it’s ahead of schedule. The seed packets say that the seeds will germinate in 14-21 days! But I only planted them at the end of last week and here they are sprouting all over the place and reaching for the sun!


Oskar’s bud has been beautifully unfolding over the weekend.
Saturday—the color begins to develop and two flowers are visible.



Sunday morning—the buds break free of their enclosure and surprise, there are four flowers!



Early this morning, the flowers take their final positions and begin opening!
Will they open in time for Christmas? Lord willing, yes! And into the second day of Christmas and more. The box said that Oskar would bloom in 8-10 weeks from planting. Oskar did have a head start in that it already had a bud but from that small beginning to now has only been 3 weeks!

Life in its beginnings--and endings can happen faster than you think. Be ready. Most of the time this kind of admonition causes people to think of death and it is very important to make sure you’re following Jesus before that time comes but I also mean for it to apply to answers to prayer. Popular sentiment says, “God does things in his time, not ours…” in effect we shouldn’t truly expect God to answer our prayers anytime before, maybe 20 or 40 years from now. King David, a “man after God’s own heart”, didn’t pray that way; he prayed for God to answer him “quickly!” (Psalm 70:1; Psalm 71:12; Psalm 141:1 and more)

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 KJV)

If you pray casually, not expecting an answer any time soon, don’t be surprised at a delay but if you pray diligently (in agreement with Jesus’ teachings) there’s a strong possibility that God will answer you quickly (if not, keep on praying as did Jesus’ example of the widow bugging the unrighteous judge (Luke 18:1-8)! In this parable, Jesus promised quick action.