Orchids Abounding
Updated: Feb 27, 2021
Hummingbird And Two Types Of Orchids by Martin Johnson Heade
“There’s a protea in there! That flower is not an orchid. It has to be taken out.”
As we were starting this blog design, my oldest daughter asked me what I wanted it to look like. I told her a garden of orchids because that is my favorite flower. I have studied and purchased many books on orchids and shared a greenhouse with a friend so that I could grow more varieties of orchids in her greenhouse. I have attended several orchid shows and strolled through the National Gallery of Art with my parents to see 19th century American painter Martin Johnson Heade’s extraordinary paintings of orchids and hummingbirds. What a priceless joy that was!
I am totally smitten with the beauty of this vast species of plants. I buy them from orchid greenhouses and local grocery stores. I prefer orchids to every plant that God has placed on this planet. They always catch my attention.
So, you can imagine how odd it was for me to see a protea flower (not in the orchid family at all) in my blog’s floral bouquet design. I mentioned it openly to my family, and several of them said to just leave it in there because nobody would notice that protea, even though I was righteously against it!
So, I decided to investigate what that spiky flower stood for. What would be the contrast between my beloved orchids and the oddly shaped protea? Yep, you guessed it. It was totally astounding:
Orchids make up one of the two largest, diverse, and widespread family of flowering plants. They are generally affiliated with love, fertility and elegance. The protea is a South African flowering plant whose flower represents change and hope.
How could it be clearer that the protea flower had to stay? My family laughed when I read this symbolism out loud. I stared in shock. My daughter is brilliant…she had no idea that this blog design would remind me daily of why I am writing this blog.
In the beauty of our massive orchid design, you will see it. Amidst the flowers of love you will see the hope. Change happens to all of us. But the deep, lasting hope that we need to survive is born out of adversity and love. Those spiky edges on each protea flower remind me that God has birthed change in my life, but He has also given me hope.
You will see the hope in the mass garden of your life. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But you will see the protea flower in your garden of orchids one day. Look for it. He has not left you without it.
Listening Library: The Garden (Kari Jobe)
“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7 ESV)
The Garden
I had all
But given up
Desperate for it
A sign from love
Something good
Something kind
Bringing peace to every corner of my mind
Then I saw the garden
Hope had come to me
To sweep away the ashes
And wake me from my sleep
I realized
You never left
And for this moment
You planned ahead
That I would see
Your faithfulness in all of the green
I can see the ivy
Growing through the wall
'Cause You will stop at nothing
To heal my broken soul
I can see the ivy
Reaching through the wall
'Cause You will stop at nothing
To heal my broken soul
Ohh, You're healing broken souls
Ohh, You're healing broken souls
Faith is rising up like ivy
Reaching for the light
Hope is stirring deep inside me
Making all things right
Love is lifting me from sorrow
Catching every tear
Dispelling every lie and torment
Crushing all my fears
You crush all my fears
You crush all my fears
With Your perfect love
Ohh-ohhh, with Your perfect love
Now I see redemption
Growing in the trees
The death and resurrection
In every single seed....
Songwriters: Kari Jobe The Garden lyrics © Bethel Music Publishing
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