Jade Flowers
Almost fifteen years ago my mother brought me a small jade plant. It was about three inches high and had three leaves on it. Because I name all my plants, I named her, appropriately, Jade. Over the years Jade has grown into a huge tree, about four feet high in her shoot system and branching out to over five feet in diameter. Every spring when the days are warm enough, my husband back-breakingly moves her to the front porch to enjoy the outdoors. In the fall, she goes back to a small nook off of our kitchen where it’s chilly but the southern light kisses her all winter long.
This year she was put back into her winter spot and the strangest thing began to happen. She bloomed. In all the years that I have had this plant, it has never produced any flowers. I didn’t even know that it could! After researching on some gardening websites, I learned the conditions required for a jade plant to flower, all three simultaneously necessary. First, a jade plant must be mature and its roots crowded in a tight container. Second, it needs dry, arid conditions in the soil and atmosphere. Lastly, it needs cooler temperatures, shorter days and longer nights.
This year, when Jade was moved into her spot, I was busy getting ready for school to start and she didn’t get any water for over a month. And because she is bigger than ever before, her roots are jammed packed in her container. Also, she had to be placed on the floor for the first time instead of up on a bench. Less window exposure led to less light for her. Unbeknownst to me, the conditions were setting Jade up for success! Her response was a production of hundreds of clusters at the tips of all her branches that will soon become tiny star shaped flowers.
None of these conditions make sense to most flowering plants. They like space for their roots, lots of water, sunny days and warm temperatures to bloom. Most plants are high-maintenance pansies (pun intended). But not a jade plant. When the basic needs of a plant are not being met- water, warmth, and light- this plant doesn’t die but thrives. It doesn’t wilt. It doesn’t cry victim. It doesn’t get bitter like my cucumbers do when they don’t get enough water. Instead, all those years of steady growth will bring a maturity to this plant in times of difficulty. Possessing a deep well of resources within itself, it shines in the face of scarcity, producing fruit! I am so inspired by Jade and how she has leaned into the hard conditions that presented themselves to her. She didn’t shrink back but used them as an opportunity to flourish.
It’s 2020 y'all. And in my fifty-four years on the earth, I have never lived in the conditions that it has delivered. If ever there was a year where I felt like I was in a tight place, it’s this year. I have felt so constrained by stay at home orders and mandates that have limited normal life and family connections. The interactions with people behind masks feels stale and dehydrated. The news every night on the television is frigid and bleak. What can I do? Well, even though the conditions aren’t to my liking, I am going to flower. I’m going to flourish. I will dig deep into the wellspring of life that I have in Jesus! Clusters of hope and joyful expectations of good things will germinate all over my life. My star-shaped fruit will shine in dark days. A fragrance of peace will follow me into the places I go. Love will exude from me and reach beyond the veils on faces and touch the hearts of people that I come across each day.
Hey 2020! I ain’t no pansy. I’m a jade. I’m gonna bloom.
“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.” Isaiah 35:1-2a ESV
