Boat Orchid

My house is an orchids' graveyard. They come and go, usually turning to mush because I overwatered or underwatered, or this wasn’t right or that wasn’t perfect. These pretty but fussy little flowers just do not thrive in my home.

I was brought a ‘boat orchid’ several years ago by a colleague who had better success growing them. He explained that this type would tolerate my cold home. Sure enough, it did not die, but while it flowered for two whole years in my work’s office, it never flowered in seven years in my home. Until this spring, that is. A whole stem of attractive white flowers grew, with little pink areas to offset the white. Imagine my pleasure!

Then I saw them: aphids. Crawling over the flowers, robbing their sap. They were squashed and sprayed though even now, I find an occasional escapee still feasting on stolen juices. Now, only two flowers remain. How did they enter my home during the winter?? I know not, but I know that they did. Wherever there is a plant, there will be a pest, and wherever a human, sin. The flowers for which I waited seven years are looking a little battered and tired, on account of their parasites and my violent remedies. Yet these less-than-perfect-looking flowers are still better than the alternative: bug infested or a bare stem. 

Be thankful for what little you have. Be grateful that, though bruised and weary, you still have Christ, the hope of the world, without whom life really is colourless and dark.