In 1977, my wife and children bought me a little gift at the grocery store. It was a Father’s Day gift. When they brought it home and gave it to me, I recall thanking them but wondering what in the world to do with it. (Keep in mind: In Florida a person with a wooden leg will see their leg sprout leaves and fruit if they stand in one place very long.) “It” was a three inch log-looking thing from Hawaii. It cost less than a dollar. The picture on the package showed a tall, lovely Ti (pronounced “tea”) plant. I was a bit skeptical. My thumbs are pretty pink!

Our kids planted it outside our front door. It seemed miraculous. In a week or two, a green shoot came out of the ground. My Ti plant grew several feet that first summer. However, a sharp winter freeze killed off most of my plant. It looked pretty pathetic the next spring. Valiantly, my Ti plant struggled all summer to recover, but failed – miserably. I didn’t think it would survive the next winter.

The second summer, someone accidentally ran the mower over my Ti plant. I thought that would definitely be the end of my dreams of luxuriant foliage in my own front yard. Then, the neatest thing occurred. My Ti plant put out some new green shoots from its stubby little base. That summer it made a lot of progress. In fact, the following Christmas, one of my boys strung some miniature lights on it and it looked quite handsome.

That next winter, my Ti plant got nipped pretty badly by more freezing weather. It never quite got back to its original splendor – until this spring. We didn’t have a bad freeze last winter. My Ti plant is between six and seven feet tall and beautiful! The shades of red and yellow make the whole plant seem to glow.

What are the Life Lessons
in all this for me?

• Each of us experiences hardships, pain, discouragement, and sadness. These things highlight, and often mark the seasons of our lives. I’ve experienced many different kinds of pain. However, because of my involvement with people in a counseling relationship for 37 years, the pain I’ve seen through the eyes of other people makes my pain seem like a piece of cake!
• Are we truly “more than conquerors through Him”? Yes! But that doesn’t tell the whole story. The very word “conqueror” implies going through hard times, battles, and struggle of one kind or another. He has promised that He wouldn’t allow us to go through trials that would annihilate us. He didn’t promise that we wouldn’t be bruised, scraped, discouraged, or down from time to time. Yes! Bent, but not broken!
• Paul experienced something of all the things I’ve mentioned. Yet, he wrote the Corinthian people, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (II Cor 4:8, 9)
• My Ti plant is a daily reminder to me of the truth of these thoughts. If my Ti plant can survive, even excel, against great odds and all the forces of nature and man, surely I can take heart and continue to conquer and overcome. Simple truth? Yes! Easy? Not always! When you drive past our home, take a minute and admire my Ti plant.

Next Inside Out          Gallery              Previous Inside Out