Sometimes it takes a little longer …

It came overnight and caught us out in a way we had never experienced before. After April had brought some summery temperatures that encouraged many of our trees and plants to sprout vigorously, two frosty nights only weeks later brought this sprouting to an abrupt end. We wandered through our garden and were horrified by the picture that presented itself to us. Young leaves hanging limply from countless plants. The “result” of these two nights of frost was so disastrous that we feared it had killed some of the trees, especially the newly planted ones. We cried inside, because we love them, have seen many of them grow over the years and have enjoyed them.

It took time. The frozen leaves turned brown and died, but slowly, very slowly, buds formed over the next few weeks and new leaves appeared. As I write this, summer has arrived. There are not many traces left of the two nights of frost and many trees have recovered well. One of my favorite trees is the catalpa, which can be seen in the picture above. Now in July, it is blooming in all its glory – late, but it is blooming. Normally its flowers are already in bloom in June, but I enjoy the sight of them no less in July.

Isn’t it often the same in life? We have a clear idea of how things should go and, above all, when they should unfold. We are horrified when events, circumstances or people thwart our time schedules. We pray and have our agenda in mind. But God often doesn’t stick to our timetables because His are better AND because He is God. And then here and there we have to say goodbye to our wishes, ideas and plans working out in our timing. We are sad and horrified. Some things simply take a little longer, sometimes much longer, than we thought and had in mind. We must not and should not give up hope that something beautiful will come out in the end – even if it takes a little longer.