Learning Along The Way

  • Blog
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Coaching
  • Contact

Resilient (or How Does My Garden Grow?)

June 6, 2012 By Lisa Lewis

I had the most amazing gardening experience ever!  If you’re not into gardening, that’s ok, it wasn’t super technical but there is a great story so bear with me.

 

A week ago our son graduated from Biola University.  We don’t live in the LA area so attending his graduation meant traveling down a day ahead.  Since we were going to be down there anyway we had made plans to be gone the whole long holiday weekend.

 

We left on Friday afternoon.  If you’re a mom you know how much preparation goes into getting ready to leave; for me it includes surveying the garden for potential issues that might need attending to before leaving.  All was in order so we were good to go.

 

It was a wonderful graduation; made this Momma very proud!  But I digress; the event is not the focus of the gardening experience!

 

After returning home four days later, I went out to survey the garden.  I found one of the giant sunflowers lying down in the middle of the cantaloupe and watermelon plants.  It hadn’t been uprooted so I knew I could stake it up and it would be okay.  That’s not the amazing part.  I’m getting there.

 

I wish I had thought to capture this with a photo.  While it was lying there on its side for 3 -4 days, the head of the sunflower, not yet in bloom, had turned itself upward toward the sun.  The stalk of the sunflower had to twist itself around in order to face upward.  When I staked the plant up it was crooked and the head was facing the wall behind the plant.  This would be a gardening experiment for sure.

One week later, this is what the plant looked like:

 

 

I have gleaned a lot of metaphors from this gardening experience.  As another experiment, I’d like to hear from you!

What life lessons do you recognize from my amazing gardening experience?

I’ll share mine tomorrow!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Encouragement, Faith, Hope, Personal Tagged With: change, gardening, growth, metaphor, resilient

Trackbacks

  1. Sunflower Life Lesson #1 –Desperate says:
    August 8, 2016 at 2:18 pm

    […] showed you this picture yesterday.  I was struck by how desperate this sunflower was to point toward the […]

  2. 3 Ways Perseverance Trumps Perfectionism says:
    August 8, 2016 at 2:24 pm

    […] isn’t my first foray into sunflower growth. In our longtime home I grew sunflowers and learned some lessons there too. But these sunflowers? I learned 3 important lessons that may help you, […]

Meet Lisa…

I am a native California girl married to my best friend, Colin; we currently live and work in the Silicon Valley. I am privileged to be mom to two fantastic grown sons, mom-in-law to a wonderful daughter, and recent Mimi to a grand-daughter! On any given Saturday, you can see my hubster and I out on our tandem bike somewhere, enjoying the beauty of creation! Read More…

Subscribe…

* indicates required

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • Can Your Family Find Fun & Curiosity Together?
  • A Handful of Hope for (forced) Homeschooling Parents
  • What Changes When You’re Brave?
  • When is an End Also a Beginning?
  • Why It’s Been Scary Being Silent

Follow Me…

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Categories

Search

  • Blog
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Coaching
  • Contact

Copyright © 2025 · Agency Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.