Contentment enables me to bloom where God has planted me

Today it is cold, wet, rainy and cloudy outside. I left my normal sitting chair to do some household upkeep and then I saw my geraniums in full bloom in the library window. Sitting in a west window where it is fairly cool they have decided to make spring come once again. There are little piles of snow hanging on that the rain has been unable to melt so the visual of the red blossoms in front of their picture window is quite a sight. The geraniums are waiting. They are waiting to move to their new home in the greenhouse. But these waiting plants have not sat idle. They don’t care that it’s very cold or snowy outside. They don’t care that the greenhouse pond isn’t ready yet for them to sit over the top of. They bloomed anyways!

So how shall I spend my time waiting today?  I picked up my pad and my pen and my phone and my glasses and decided to write on the daybed in the library. 

There’s an old saying that goes like this ‘the ladies in waiting are knitting and pillating.’ This statement refers to the mother during her term of pregnancy. Years ago that time was usually spent in knitting a layette and “pulling” the cotton for the expectant mother to  make cloth diapers. Today my sister-in-law can attest to the fact that this time of waiting is spent with doctor visits, raising two toddler soon to be older siblings and some rare self-pampering. Some mothers also spend this time freezing meals for the first weeks of after baby and preparing the child’s room. 

How do I know that waiting is an action verb? Spend a little bit of time in a clinic reception room and it will seem that waiting is not  active at all except for the counting of others who get to come and go. Through the years I’ve had my share of waiting in doctors offices. And I know it doesn’t seem very active. I have also waited through innumerable violin and cello lessons through the years. Having something to crochet during that time certainly help the waiting go faster. 

What I have learned most about waiting through the years has happened because of my own handicapped abilities. My eyesight and my small physical stature have left me waiting for others help often. Whether I like it or not there are simply some things I physically cannot do. 

Waiting for the last few tasks to be completed on the greenhouse so that I can  begin planting has got me thinking about waiting a lot.  So I decided I might as well write about it. While I sit waiting for my husband to call that he is on his way home from work (something that I have been blessed to do for 25 years now) I thought about this being an action verb. What have I done during my daily waitings through the years?  

Most of the time I make a list and when everything is scratched off the list (or sometimes not) the day is suddenly over. Somehow or another from sunrise to sunset we make our way through life. This keeping busy distracts us from the times of waiting. From playing smart phone games to five minute tidy chores in the home to reading a magazine or crocheting or knitting we all have ways to be active during our times of waiting. 

Waiting teaches us a lot about contentment Learning to be with or live without either way the moments go by. Bad attitude or good attitude life marches on. So being content is a greater gain then striving for what is not ours at the moment. Recently I came across the phrase “contentment enables me to grow where God has planted me.” A simpler version of this statement is “bloom where God plants you.” I just love that motto!  If these beautiful geraniums could do that then I guess I can too!

 So I spent the day studying homemade garden soil recipes. I looked up different seed catalog companies. I laid out the various options for our garden beds in the dome. And of course I did my usual housekeeping tasks. But somehow the fastest part of my day was spent writing about waiting.