It’s that time again – time at the farm in the summer. What a good feeling to get my hands in the dirt, dig out the weeds in the flower beds around the pool and just enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. My garden has special surprises for me always it seems, that teach me about life. As I was busy weeding away, I spied shoots coming from a delphinium plant I thought was long gone, but there it was ready to show itself again.

The plant has a little story of its own, In an inspiration for my daughter’s birthday one March, I sent her delphinium bulbs for her flower garden. When we came back from our Maui home to our Indiana farm, I found she had divided the bulbs in half, providing some for my garden too. My gift had been returned rich and plentiful and I was blessed throughout my summer days with their fragrance and beauty. It reminded me of an old adage told to me by my neighbor a few years ago. Flowers will bloom longer and brighter when given as a gift, if the giver gives in love and sincerity.

That’s not the end of the delphinium story however, after I had enjoyed abundant blooms for about three years, the plants seem to be a bit tired and were no longer producing rich lovely bloom as before. Reading in my gardening book, I was instructed to transplant them to another location as they would have depleted the soil after a while, needing fresh soil to prosper. So I tenderly removed them to another area in my garden, making sure my favored delphiniums prospered. Then Covid hit and we were not able to return to the farm for two summers because of transportation limitations. One day, the ladywho looks after our place now and then, messaged me that since we wouldn’t be returning for a while, would I mind if she took some stars of plants from my garden. Thinking she was wanting the day lilies that were getting too thick, I said, “Sure, help yourself.” Only later, when she sent a picture of what she had taken, innocently thanking me for my kindness, did I realize she had taken my coveted delphiniums. I gulped a bit, then rationalizing, although I had made a mistake in giving something that I prized very much,maybe it was time, I shared my gift with another, I then managed a, “You are welcome. Please enjoy.”

But the happy thought is, always our kindnesses are remembered by God, even though they may be a little bit forced at times. You see, the surprise I mentioned earlier was that when I transplanted the delphiniums earlier for safe keeping, I had forgotten that I didn’t have room for all the plants, so chose another little spot on the other side of my garden to plant an extra. There it was in full bloom, ready to make my day.