Every year, I am in awe of the beautiful spring gardens of bulbs mixed with pansies. I say to myself, “I should plant a spring garden.” But decades have passed and I never have.
I finally gave in to this desire and planted pansies this spring. As I did so, my mind wandered to the past remembering where my love for flowers began.This love affair with flowers came from my grandpa. I remember planting hyacinths with him in front of my play house and feeling the joy of watching them bloom year after year. I remember tagging along with my big brother as grandpa taught him how to grow pansies for a young entrepreneurs income. As I followed beside them, I fell in love with this little flower—the pansy.
Grandpa was also a world-renowned landscape artist. He landscaped temples around the world for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also took care of the gardens at temple square in Salt Lake City. If you have ever seen one of these temples in the spring or summer you will know why I love flowers, especially spring gardens. They take your breath away. They are so beautiful!
Then my mind returned to the present. I found myself asking, “Why have I waited so long to plant pansies, when I love them so much?” It is because they only boom for 5-6 weeks and then you have to dig them up and throw them away in order to plant your summer flowers. My frugal side would not let me. It seemed so wasteful.
I continued to ponder this. Even though pansies and bulbs have a short season, they bring joy. They rejuvenate our spirits after a long winter and so it is for every season of our lives.
Every season is important no matter how short or how long. The season of bearing children: babies, toddlers, teenagers, single adults, the empty-nest stage, grandchildren, old age, and death. They all have purpose in our journey here on earth. And yet sometimes we are in a hurry to get to the next season of life, and don’t fully invest ourselves, and enjoy the beauty of the season we are in. Sometimes we are looking over the fence, thinking things will be better when….
All these years I had missed out on experiencing greater joy from spring flowers just because I was unwilling to allow that season of my life to be short.
I began to wonder, were there other things I have missed out on because I thought the effort wasn’t worth the sacrifice? Or because I wanted to rush through that season of life and get to the next season? Or because I believed the hill was greener on the other side?
I then resolved that planting pansies this year was going to be more, much more. It was going to be a new determination to live each season to its fullest, not worrying what is on the horizon. Yes, my pansies will be pulled up soon. Nevertheless, I will enjoy them and make each day count.
Ecclesiastes 3:2—8
If you would like to visit the Temple closest to you and see the beautiful flowers or learn more about Temples go to this link:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples?lang=eng
