Given what has been going on in my life lately I have had a lot of time for self reflection.  This usually isn't a bad idea because reflection usually leads to discovery and thus definition. I'm afraid this may come off as smug, however, that is not my intent, but rather the opposite.  To acknowledge the "gardner" in my life, and welcome all that I have been afforded by this life.   

I have a beautiful orchid in my kitchen window.  Now this doesn't sound all that amazing, unless you realize that I generally kill anything green.  All of my houseplants look great because they are silk.  Everything that I plant in my yard dies within a very short matter of time, no matter if they are pansies or marigolds.  My cactus that I bought at the Grand Canyon died.  But my orchid seems to be thriving.  People tell me how difficult it is to grow orchids.  How they never survive, let alone thrive in the climate I live in, yet mine blooms and grows.  I attribute its well being to perfect placement.  It is right next to my kitchen sink so I actually remember to water it.  It also is in the warmest spot in my house with southern exposure and an abundance of warm sunlight.  With its prominent place in my kitchen I notice it often and care for it more than any plant in my house.  Somehow someone with a "black" thumb can care for and grow orchids.

I cannot help but to liken my life to that orchid.  My life experiences are unique, not unlike those of an orchid.  The blessings that I face on a daily basis are not of the regular garden variety.  Some would call them difficult, yet somehow admist all this moss I bloom and grow. 

One of my favorite songs is by Michael McLain entitled "What I need."  In the song it says that I don't live "in a mansion on a hill,  have a love like in the movies, I've been given what I need."  The life experiences I have been given are hand chosen with my best interest in mind.  They've been handed out with perfect precision so that I might bloom and even thrive.  No one else would thrive in this situation and some might even wilt, but like my orchid, my life experiences are tailored with exactly the right situations that I need.  I just need to be open to them and learn what they have to teach me. I have found that if I am willing to step back and look at the situation. or give it enough time to see, everything will afford me with a learning experience. 

I hope that I can always welcome these experiences.  That I can always see the silver linings that are given along with the difficult.  If I welcome them as they come then I too can become a beautiful orchid amung regular garden variety of life experiences.