Thursday, Beautiful Thursday

I have been working on more organizing, more cleaning out of stuff, and to THAT it appears there is no end. But when I was working on my craft room, I looked down from dusting the top of the bookcases and saw this. So pretty.

Isn't it pretty how it looks like the leaves are stretching toward the light coming in through the shutters? Aren't those transparent purple flowers just lovely? My African violets are a constant surprise to me. #1 that I didn't kill them, #2 that they actually flourish and #3......well, it's a story.

A long time ago, the Smock led a group that did the St. Catherine of Siena Gifts and Talents workshop. It was an amazing experience, and I personally think she should do it again. After the formal workshop was over, a handful of us continued to meet on a monthly basis. We each took turns doing a little presentation for the meeting, or inviting someone in to do a little presentation.

When it was her turn for a talk, our friend Grace brought in little glass jars full of water with 1 African violet leaf stuck in it. She gave us each one. One leaf in a jar! Then she told us that this was an experiment in faith. If you put the bottle in a sunny-ish spot, keep the water filled up, and don't let it dry out, it will sprout roots. After the bottle is pretty much filled with roots, you can transplant that one little leaf into a pot with potting soil, and it will turn into a little plant. Keep that plant watered sufficiently, and it will grow into a big plant. And finally, finally the plant will sprout beautiful purple flowers.

She likened all of this to our life in faith. There is a time to grow roots. Times we need to be transplanted. Times to grow. And times to flower.

I took my little leaf home and put it in my kitchen window; I never thought it would work. I usually kill off plants.

But I wanted this to work. Grace was moving away, and I saw it as a way to keep in touch with her spiritually, if not physically. So, I added water. Transplanted it. Watered it when it started drooping.

And lo and behold! It grew. And grew. And grew.

And I've learned another lesson. When you get big enough, sometimes things have to be divided. Taking my heart in my hands, because I so didn't want to kill my plant, I divided the plant into two parts and replanted. And behold, they still grow! Can you see the two pots?

And every day when I see these, I think of Grace and say a little prayer for her. And thank her for the lesson she taught me with one bottle and one leaf.

Have a beautiful day, my friends!