Every day for a week, I walked around my house looking for evidence that my old-fashioned lilies were about to start blooming, and each day I was let down. All the houses I drove by had their lilies in full bloom, except mine. Finally, one morning I walked outside and saw the long stem was finally present on one of the lilies. I watched that flower for several days, excited that it was blooming and forgot to check on the other ones. Three days later, as if someone flipped a switch, all of my other lilies went into full bloom. Now I have a dozen or more flowers blooming all by surprise.
Right now, with all the uncertainty in our world, many people are in a low place. Depression is on the rise, fear keeps many of us hostage, and frustration is wearing on the rest. Do we continue to quarantine or do we not? Do we continue to meet, or do we cancel? Do we rant or do we pray? Do we serve the community or encourage others to meet those needs instead? We have so many questions. There are still tons of unknowns. And this world seems like it has completely lost its mind.
But, just like I was totally surprised by all of the flowers blooming in my yard, there are some wonderful flowers blooming during this crazy time, too. The influx of free food being brought into Madison is amazing! Farmshare and Second Harvest are just a couple of huge agencies that are helping our community right now. Friendships are growing between neighbors as we are taking time to help each other. Communities within our community are forming as many are without work or childcare and folks are helping one another out. Volunteers are coming out of the woodwork as many folks are using their free time to serve in the community. Churches of different denominations and backgrounds are coming together on purpose. Even in the midst of seeming chaos, there are so many flowers blooming all around our community.
And those flowers can surprise you in your own life, too. Don’t lose heart or lose hope. Look for the blooms all around. And once you start looking, seeing all of the other flowers in full bloom will be easier to spot. There is hope. Just remember, flowers grow when we aren’t even looking.