Quarantine has given me the opportunity to try so many new hobbies—gardening being one of them. Taking care of plants seemed like a calming pastime, but it became much more. Through it, I’ve learned so much about myself and my faith journey. Let me explain.

The first plant I owned was an ivy I acquired for an elementary school science project, where I tested if talking daily to a plant improved its growth. (It did, by the way.) After this project ended, I’m sad to say I was a neglectful mother. My brother became its foster father and I never really owned any plants after that. While I was studying abroad this semester, I won a snake plant in a new student lottery. Maybe it’s because I was in a very lonely place after moving to a foreign country, but something about bringing that living plant into my isolated and cold dorm room just gave me the warm and fuzzies. While I had to leave that plant in its home country, the joy it brought remained with me as I crossed borders.

Flash forward a few weeks to the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown. I was experiencing some of the feelings I felt abroad—lonely and unsure. I cleaned out an old candle glass and filled it with a cutting from the science fair plant that was still flourishing under the parentage of my brother. (This process is called propagation—a simple way for someone to become a plant owner without spending a dime.) I watched this little stem struggle to grow in water for 2 weeks without much growth. I started to feel a bit discouraged and worried I had overestimated my unproven green thumb. After some Youtube research, I bought some liquid fertilizer which worked wonders. After a week, roots were sprouting left and right. This gave me the boost of confidence I needed to continue learning about gardening. I hopped on Home Depot’s website and bought a Devil’s Ivy. I have six plants in my room now (five in soil, one growing in water), so you could say I’ve gone a bit plant crazy. You may be thinking, “Ok Dom, that's all well and good, but what does this have to do with God?” And my answer is—everything. There are many allusions to planting and gardening in the Bible and I could probably run down the list of all the metaphors, but I do want to mention something you’ve probably heard before if you’ve been a Christian for a bit—the mustard seed.

Here’s the verse (Mark 4:30-32): “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

Maybe you’re thinking, “Huh?”, so let me tell you that this is powerful. Jesus is telling the disciples here that our faith in him doesn't need to be large, flashy, or grandiose. Maybe your faith is like my little clipping from the science fair plant. It’s small and seeming like it will never grow. It feels like you’ll never be rooted in your faith. Trust me I’ve been there. Here’s a secret though, there are 2 ingredients you need. The first, fertilizer. Spiritual fertilizer is prayer. Pray! Pray when you’re happy. Pray when you feel like it. Pray when you’re sad. Most importantly, pray when you don’t feel like it. Even if your prayer is “God, I don’t understand you right now” you are WINNING because you are growing your faith. Prayer is an admission that God exists.

The second ingredient is time. When you are caring for plants, you have to get used to waiting a while to see some growth. It can be agonizing and frustrating, especially when there’s nothing you can really do. If you overwater or over-expose the plant to too much light, you risk killing it. During the coronavirus pandemic, I’ve struggled with this lesson in patience. My faith has deteriorated some because of my anger at having to wait. I’ve often felt like God was keeping me in the soil, not letting me grow into a beautiful, leafy plant. Taking care of my own plants, I’ve realized that it’s the small, incremental growth that makes a plant strong. Even the largest plant I own grew from a tiny seed in darkness. During this time, its roots had to grow strong before it could really bloom. Jesus promises us that we will bloom. And not just bloom, flourish. He says we’ll be the largest plants in the garden and that our reach will be so wide that we’ll be able to assist in the lives of others. Come on, you can’t tell me that doesn’t get you a little bit excited!

I say all this to say, that this week, I want you to spend some time in prayer. Maybe you haven’t prayed in years, but just give it a try. Your prayer can be 1 minute or 10 minutes because remember Jesus says that its the smallest seed that grows into the largest plant. Use this time to ask God to encourage you in your waiting/growing time. Maybe you feel like you’ve been buried in the soil for too long. Ask him to give you the patience to remain faithful during this growing season. Ask him to help you see the incremental growth (the growth that is small, but impactful).

I love you sister and I am so excited to see you grow in due time. Don’t take this rooting process for granted. Your roots will keep you planted even after you’ve bloomed. God has a reason for everything and is keeping you hidden until the perfect moment. His purpose for you is extraordinary.