Happy Friday, Westheights! Josh is away this week so today’s post is from me – Mimi. Since I moved my work computer into my kitchen on Saturday, March 14th, I’ve been blissfully happy, working in a room that’s primarily all windows, and I’m surrounded by my favourite things – food and my house plants. I won’t get into the disadvantages of easy access to food because I’m sure many of us are sharing the same repercussions. However, my house plants are my other passion, particularly propagation, because I’m frugal and like the idea of growing something from almost nothing. My plant obsession began just over a year ago, last spring, when I decided to grow plants for the residents at Forest Heights Long Term Care Centre. We collected stem cuttings from willing donors and, one year later, those cuttings have flourished into fantastic plants that are currently homeless at our office portable because of COVID. Then I discovered the world of epiphyllums, succulents, cacti, and discarded fruit seeds and pits. Some of my greatest successes have been a 2.5′ tall avocado tree that I grew from a pit, and five lemon trees from lemon seeds. Now I have over 45 potted plants in our kitchen, with another 30 at the church portable.
So now comes the down-side of my obsession. I’ve been surrounded by my plant friends for four months. I visit them several times each day, checking on their progress, marvelling over every tiny growth, fretting each time a leaf browns, and lamenting when my babies don’t flourish. So what would you do if your plant doesn’t flourish? Give it more attention. What does attention mean? More water. What does more water mean? More death, if you’re a cactus or a succulent. I’ve become a helicopter mom to my plants and I’m not proud of it. My babies are dying and it’s breaking my plant-loving heart as I come to the realization that too much attention has led to the demise of some of my favourite plants. To be specific, too much mistaken attention. After all, other factors could have been affecting my plants including heat, humidity, and light, but I focused on one solution (water) to solve all my plant problems.
This reminded me of the way we troubleshoot when we get stuck in a rut. How often, in other aspects of our lives, have we been so focused on a single solution to a problem that we weren’t open to God’s prompting from another direction? Are we willing to pivot?
1. Virtual Foyer
This Sunday we are once again having a virtual foyer by using Zoom so that we can see and say “hi” to one another after the service. To join in right after this Sunday’s service, simply click this link. If you aren’t set up with Zoom yet, we recommend that you click on the link and set things up before Sunday.
Finally …
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