My parents have had a yard full of camellias for 17 years. Though I had often noted in passing how beautiful the different varieties were throughout the well-manicured yard, I became acutely aware of the true beauty of these bushes two years ago when the greatest earthly teacher I have known shared a little history lesson.
My father was deadheading the bushes one evening when I pulled into the driveway to chat with him. He was standing just outside of the spray of the sprinkler heads, and I noted deep thought on his face as he was working on a bush. He shared that these bushes were planted many years ago by a woman who lived across from the current property. She had a mentally challenged son, and her motherly wisdom told her that her son needed a productive way to occupy his days. Together, she and her son began planting, pruning, grafting, and caring for these plants with passion and purpose. Her desire to be with her son produced a garden of breathtaking beauty that is still enjoyed by many long after that family left this earth.
What we do now has significance for the future. That precious mother probably did not think of whom would be deadheading the bushes eighty years later. She simply was giving her son a purpose and a mission, but because of the overflow of the deep love and devotion of a mother these fruits of her labor still shine today.
Don’t lose heart by the things of this world that distract you and weigh you down. Sow generously because God has an unfathomable way of multiplying it for our good and the good of others.
I will never look at a camellia again without thinking of the gift left by a loving mother and her special son. Recently, my own sweet mother gave me a “Pink Perfection” camellia to plant in my yard. Its first blossom greeted me the day I returned from the CCW Retreat in St. Simon’s…what a beautiful gift from the Creator!
That bush is now a reminder to me that the legacy we leave as women can last through the generations. I pray that we, as women of The Church of the Cross, will leave legacies of being Kingdom Building women who inspire others long after we have left this earth to be in Glory with Christ Jesus for all eternity.
May it be so, Lord. May it be so.
Rebecca
