Indomitable

An annual. That means you're good to bloom for a season, and then you quietly succumb to your pre-determined deterioration and become one with the dust from whence you came.

You were so beautiful a year ago, no eyes could gaze upon you without admiration and adoration for your existence.

But you kept blooming. Well past your "annual" label, you stubbornly presented beautiful blossoms over and over with a defiant flourish. Every time I looked at you over there blooming like a boss, it would rain on a sunny day from invisible thunder clouds.

And you are still going, over a year later. Refusing to wither and go out gracefully as expected. Your leaves are shiny and vibrant, preparing to coax little buds out of hiding. Eager to prove to them that "annual" may have been on the tag but it's merely a suggestion.

God created you, the ability to grow you and your every cell. He created you to feed the pollinators, and to show us that our world is full of beauty if we just look around.

And while we wither and succumb to the environment we are planted in, you're over there getting ready to bedazzle my world again, your little spirit determined to slap that label up the side of the head. In a pot, no less! Living on last year's nutrients and old dirt. Pretty much no care, and I even almost let you die of dehydration (more than once) but you refused to let the parched earth claim you.

You're adorable. You're stubborn. And you're an inspiration, Kalanchoe. If you refuse to give up, why should we?

At this point, I don't even care if you give me flowers to admire. I already admire your tenacity, your refusal to give up even when you were never meant to live this long. I gave up on you, but you never gave up on yourself and that's a beautiful statement to be made by a plant in a pot.

You're beautiful. You're an inspiration. You're a statement. You showed me that God can do whatever He wants, so I guess you're a little miracle. I like that.

Indomitable spirit.

Carry on, little Kalanchoe. Keep teaching me about expectations, assumptions and the power of hanging on by a thread...

of a hem.

Amen.