Daffodils

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” Matt 13:31,32

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over.” I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. “I will come next Tuesday”, I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there.

When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren,

I said, “Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!”

My daughter smiled calmly and said, “We drive in this all the time, Mother.”

“Well, you won’t get me back on the road until it clears, and then I’m heading for home!” I assured her.
“I was hoping you’d take me over to the garage to pick up my car.”

“How far will we have to drive?”

“Just a few blocks,” Carolyn said.

“I’ll drive. I’m used to this.”

After several minutes, I had to ask, “Where are we going? This isn’t the way to the garage!”
“We’re going to my garage the long way,” Carolyn smiled, “by way of the daffodils.”

“Carolyn,” I said sternly, “please turn around.”

“It’s all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign that read, “Daffodil Garden.”  We got out of the car and each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path.

Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue.   There were five acres of flowers.

“But who has done this?” I asked Carolyn.

“It’s just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “She lives on the property. That’s her home.”

Carolyn pointed to a well kept A frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking” was the headline.

The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs,” it read.

The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain.”

The third answer was, “Began in 1958.”

There it was, The Daffodil Principle.

For me, that moment was a life changing experience.  I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun one bulb at a time-to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world. This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable (indescribable) magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time, often just one baby step at a time-and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

“It makes me sad in a way,” I admitted to Carolyn. “What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it ‘one bulb at a time’ through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!”  My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. “Start tomorrow,” she said.

It’s so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, “How can I put this to use today?”

–    Author Unknown

Related Posts

The Blue Ribbon

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centred Love them anyway If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway The good you do today will be...

Who packed your parachute?

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15 Charles Plumb was a U.S navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air...

Taking Aim

A young lady name Sally, related an experience she had in a seminary class, given by her teacher, professor Smith. She said Professor Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons. One particular day, Sally walked in and knew they were in for another interesting...

Anyway

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centred Love them anyway If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway The good you do today will be...

Oprah Winfrey and Billy Graham

Last year I watched Billy Graham being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on television.  Oprah told him that in her childhood home, she used to watch him preach on a little black and white TV while sitting on a linoleum floor. She went on to tell viewers that in his...

Lesson’s from Noah’s Ark

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Lam 3:23 Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or …I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.Today I can grumble about my health or…I can rejoice that I am alive.Today I...

Today

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or …I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.Today I can grumble about my health or…I can rejoice that I am alive.Today I can mourn my lack of friends or…I can excitedly embark upon a quest to...

Choices

“If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.” Romans 14:18 Jerry is the manager of a restaurant in America. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he...

Rules of Wisdom

God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts. Dear God.  I have a problem.  It’s me. Growing old is inevitable; growing UP is optional. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open. Silence is often misinterpreted but never misquoted. Do the math.  Count...

Criticism

In “A Closer Walk”, Catherine Marshall writes: “One morning last week He gave me an assignment: for one day I was to go on a ‘fast’ from criticism. I was not to criticize anybody about anything. For the first half of the day, I simply felt a void, almost as if I had...

A 9-11 Story

“All things work together for good for those who love the Lord who serve Him according to His purpose” Romans 8:28 My father also had more news for me; he was going to help. ‘This is not something I can just sit by for, I have to do something.’ I was concerned for his...

In Step with God

The raw, direct encounters with God experienced by Old Testament Kings and prophets, give a huge insight into God’s character. As we see Israel’s rebellion after rebellion against God, even after repeatedly experiencing His miraculous hand and power, there are those...

Building God’s House

When King David, the “man after God’s own heart”, purposed in his heart to build a house for God, God’s response was “I will build you a house”. God proceeds to say that David’s son will build God’s house and God would establish him rock solid and His reign forever....

From Trust to Statistics?

Over the past year I have invested in multiple investment products and have seen volatility that has not been seen over years. It is easy to count assets in terms of financial value and net worth. There are times God blesses us with financial assets, there are times...

Disabilities

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me . . . for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  (Matthew 19:14, NIV) I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life? Up before dawn each day, off to...