I've never had a camellia plant before - in fact, I really couldn't have identified a camellia until recently. My floral landscape consisted of impatiens in the summer and cyclamen in the winter, along with a few azalea bushes and the saddest hydrangea you've ever laid eyes on.

Well, in August, our front yard was transformed from this to this. We gave the landscaper creative license on the plant arrangements around the cedar tree. Most of the plants I recognized except for one - which I was told was a camellia. Well...it looked pretty boring to me. It was a stick in the ground with like 4 branches. The leaves were nice, green and waxy, but it had nothin' else going for it! Right after we put the house on the market, we noticed something interesting happening to the camellia - there were tiny little buds growing. Wow, I was REALLY excited....that's what this front yard needs is some color! I wondered how many days I would have to wait to see the blooms....I wondered what color they would be and if I would be able to cut them and put them in a vase. Days turned into weeks...the buds were getting bigger but WHERE were my blooms??? Good grief...I was growing very impatient. I even gave the thing a little dose of Miracle Grow - I read the directions and everything! Still...no blooms. Weeks turned into months - those buds were gettin' fat - but there was NO STINKIN' BLOOMS!! I was beginning to wonder if the camellia was God's little joke - a big fat brussel spout lookin' thing with no color. Then, around the turn of the year those little brussel spouts started to show some color. Even at that point, it continued to take its sweet old time opening up.

I'm not lying when I say that the first bloom showed up right after an offer was put on our house! And once that first bloom opened, the entire bush started bursting with color! Now a huge camellia tree this was not - but the 3 of us were impressed with how buds were just bursting all over the place. Every time we went out of the house we would stop and observe it....so it wasn't God's joke after all. In fact, the whole process reminded me of a spiritual truth from Ecclesiastes 3:11 that bears repeating constantly. "He has made everything beautiful in its time."

I miss "my" camellia's (although now they are far from being mine!)...partly because they are such a vibrant, beautiful, red color that I love. But mostly I miss them because I invested so much time in waiting for them to blossom. There were so many buds left that had not even started showing color yet. There were so many that I would not get to see come to blossom. But I am thankful for the blossoms I saw, and for being reminded that God makes things beautiful in HIS own good time.

I know many may not understand the journey that this family finds itself on. In fact, as a family, we don't even really know what waits for us down the road. But we know that right now, our journey may be comparable to a tiny, tiny little bud - and if we are patient, a bloom will come and it will be beautiful.

love and miss,
k