Daffodils

I Love Daffodils!

I love beautiful flowers, so spring is my favorite season. I will have to admit, though, that  daffodils are my favorite. They are the first to come up and bloom, and they are a bright light in my life after a long season stuck inside the house.

When their first leaves come up in the bleak cold of December or January, I know warmer weather and other flowers are on the way. However, daffodils are tough and are prepared for the coming bloom. Weathering all the hardships of frost, wind, snow, and sleet, they remain small islands of green, a promise of spring. I have never seen them killed back by harsh weather. I must learn to weather life’s hardships the same way.

Since the bulbs are deep in the soil where growing conditions are better, they are secure in their warm nest. They’re far from to the surface where dangers are. In the same way, I must live in the strength of my core relationship with the Lord. When I stay grounded there, the inevitable storms in my life don’t cause me to crumble. Abiding in my core allows me to stand regardless of what the world throws my way. When I’m there, I may bend in the sleet and snow, but I don’t break and I don’t give up and just quit trying.

Daffodils also live in communities. I’ve never seen a solitary daffodil except the year after planting. They rapidly form another community when transplanted. The intertwined roots give strength and support to the leaves and blooms above the ground as they face the weather’s trials. Although transplanting is hard on them for a few years, they emerge with renewed vigor and multiply faster than if they weren’t uprooted.  I also thrive when I rely on the support of my community.

Because of all these traits, daffodil clumps are practically indestructible. They are still blooming and multiplying long after the people who planted them and the structures they surrounded are gone. It’s the same with us. The things we do in our community—deeds we “plant” in other people—live long after us.

I love daffodils for their beauty and their reminder of what’s important in life! In this time of pandemic and stress, it’s more important than ever to rely on the Lord and one another.