I have a strong sense of faith, and it’s funny how sometimes I can see it manifest even in the smallest details of my life. Many years ago when my children were little, I was going around the yard putting away the scattered toys left around after they had finished playing.  I happened to take notice of the area behind my chain link fence, and it looked very haggard.

There was a little storage shed and some open space not suitable for much of anything. Through the years it had become home to a variety of things, including old pieces of slate, extra brick pavers, left over wood from the previous winter, and even a wheelbarrow! In the lushness of summer it remained hidden by the dense green trees, but each fall and winter it would become quite noticeable. It was was of those projects I never seemed to get to, and for some reason that day I found it very irritating.

As I stood there, I began to focus intently on the area, thinking about all the things I could have or should have done with it. Regret filled me as I gazed at this “eyesore” we had not yet fixed up. Somehow in that moment I had lost sight of the the improvements we did make, such as our deck and play area. All I saw was the heap of stuff, and it drove me nuts.

Right at that moment something caught my eye. As I shifted my glance, I saw the loveliest little patch of tiny flowers at the base of a huge oak tree. They were so vibrant and delicate, and there were no more than four or five of them. I could not believe that these beautiful examples of God’s creative touch within nature were thriving in the midst of my junk heap!

The mere sight of them was enough to flood my mind with various emotions and feelings. I thought about how many times I had grown, survived, and even thrived in the most desperate of situations. Those little flowers came out of nowhere, and bloomed in the middle of what appeared to the human eye as worthless space.  Yet, that space was all He needed to work with, much like periods of time in my own life.

May we always be able to bloom and grow, right where we are planted. Our soil may not seem rich, fertile or even something worth planting in to the average eye. Our limited minds sometimes fall short of grasping and seeing the grand plan. Blooming and growing are gifts, but thriving in the midst of life’s rubble is nothing short of miraculous.  Sometimes I forget that. I am quite thankful for my backyard epiphany.