Hope and a Bougainvillea

A month or two ago I purchased a bougainvillea plant. After much deliberation I chose a plant that looked happy and strong. How disheartening to then have the person at the register say my thoughtful choice was so scraggly he would discount the price...alas.

I took my plant home and carefully planted it in a pot. It promptly lost all of its flowers, most of its leaves, and turned into a gloomy pile of sticks. I still watered it every once in awhile but was giving up hope and on the brink of despair at my gardening failure. (Note: this is not the first plant that has suffered death on my watch..thus the dramatic plunge into depression).

Then, one day, out of the blue, I looked out the window and saw this:


Overnight my little plant's entire self was resplendent, green leaves and beautiful budding flowers from top to bottom. Well, maybe the reality was not quite so glorious...but still. Hooray! Victory! Success! Hope restored for my gardening future!

It was also a lovely little reminder of many deep spiritual things...take from that what you will:)