THE CASE OF THE VERY TALL HYACINTH - a true spring story

THE CASE OF THE VERY TALL HYACINTH

I was teaching in Britt, Ontario and living in a cottage on a campground.  I had had one date with my future husband Rien in January, to celebrate both of our birthdays.  He, a recent widower, had taken a trip to Holland to visit relatives, and had now come up to visit his old friend Harold, my landlord, to help him around the campground and to pursue me - even bringing me a sweet little blue necklace from Holland.  I was avoiding him, not sure about this relationship, and had gone down to Parry Sound, a three-quarters-of- an-hour drive which I had to take to get groceries.  I was on a mission to get a hyacinth, my favourite spring flower, hoping its beauty and fragrance would hurry spring along – at least at  my cottage.  I was not dressed for a date, since I was expecting to be alone.  Well, guess who was in the grocery store, not slicked up either?  Yes, Rien!  On hearing my quest, he, a professional market gardener, determined kindly to help me.  Ploughing through all the hyacinths, he chose an elegant purple one with a straight stalk.  Then we both went our ways. 

              The purple hyacinth grew and grew, its fragrance filling my little cottage.  It grew -and grew – AND grew some more, until it became top-heavy.  It was the tallest, straightest, most splendid hyacinth I have ever seen.

              Was it the hyacinth…or the blue necklace…or just something about that gentle, stable Dutch suitor of mine that won my heart?  Not sure, but we became engaged in March and were married in July.  The Lord has many uses for His lovely flowers, and many ways to bring about His special plans for our lives.  I praise Him! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE POWER OF LITTLE THINGS

                                 THE POWER OF LITTLE THINGS               “ Little drops of water, little grains of sand Make the mighty ocean, and the pleasant land.” My father used to sing this old hymn.   Yes, every gigantic ocean wave is made up of tiny droplets; yet no wave, no matter how big, can push past the beach, which is made up of an equally vast army of tiny grains of sand. Speaking of sand, I learned much about the power of little things on my last day of a holiday in Mazatlan, Mexico in January, 2015.   On the last day of our two-week family holiday, we all wanted to swim in the ocean one last time.   But to our dismay, we saw flags posted by the lifeguards which banned swimming - because of jellyfish! Yes, you read correctly: ...
Read more
                         THE CASE OF THE OBSTINATE DOORMAT             “Hmmm!  Which rug will I pick?” Having just moved from a house to a tiny apartment, I thought I would place a welcoming mat inside my front door for guests.  I chose one with rich fall colours: browns, rusts and reds.  Yes, I imagined my hall in those tones, including a gilt mirror and an autumn bouquet on a shiny chestnut table.             Back at the apartment, I smilingly placed the new mat inside the door.  Ah, how cheerful!  And it would be easy to wash, should muddy shoes defile it. Errk!  I opened the door to go downstairs, and the mat got stuck. Oh, no!  Now the mat under the door had bent double and was solidly wedged in. I could not o...
Read more

THE SINGING LESSON

                                                                                      THE SINGING LESSON               “This is NOT a democracy!”               So thundered my new singing instructor at my first lesson –such a nice, kind, sensitive gentleman, but a teensy bit scary at this moment.               “You have to do what I tell you, if you want to succeed!” On...
Read more