Poinsettia Tree Kigali, Rwanda
The first time I saw the tree, I was immediately drawn to the color.
Bright red blooms flaunting.
Then I did a double take.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Towering over my head, ten feet tall, were tons of brown branches scattered sparsely with green leaves and budding on the ends with Poinsettias.
That’s right—Poinsettias!
I only always think of them as festive plants we buy once a year and then toss in January.
Another amazing sight in Rwanda!
I wondered, “How many poinsettias have I bought over the years for school fundraisers or received as thoughtful gifts?”
“How many have I thrown away when Christmas was over?”
I always feel a little guilty when I toss them. But my track record with indoor plants is pretty abysmal, usually a result of neglect.
My mother kept one for a few years. But as it grew inside it became uglier and scragglier as the years progressed, and of course it was green, not red. And they are just not that pretty as a green plant.
She always thought she would take the time to turn it red at Christmas. But to change it again you have to put it in complete darkness for 12 hours a day until it finally turns.
Take it out,
Put it back,
Take it out…soon too much trouble.
One year after Christmas I took the kids to their Great Grandmother’s house in Kansas.
Before I left town, the last thing I asked was if The Preacher didn’t mind watering the few plants I was attempting to grow.
So he watered them.
A bunch.
When I returned home, I began gathering up all the Christmas decorations and putting them away. (Not nearly as fun as getting them out). When I picked up my two pots of fake silk poinsettias, they seemed strangely heavy.
Then I felt a dampness.
They were full of water.
He later confessed that he had forgotten about the plants. So the day we were to come home, he rushed around watering everything thoroughly.
So I wonder, “Did God purpose all those real poinsettias to be pottted and tossed? Or did he intend for them to continually grow to great heights?”
“And did he intend for us to stay stunted in vessels of sin—never to reach our full potential in him?”
Or is his mercy plan for us–to be rooted free in a garden,
Stretching our limbs to the heavens,
Offering shade and shelter to others
And reaching to him in praise and thanks?
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2 Timothy 1:9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.
-Thank him for his mercy and grace to free us from our vessels of sin.