A Cactus Kind of Day

It was a cactus sort of day. Or maybe I was the cactus. Admittedly, I was a little prickly. Kris was gone so I was running the house alone. It was a wreck. We were running late for school. I missed the turn to pick up someone who needed a ride. An unnamed individual bumped the gear shift and our car went into neutral while speeding down the road without me realizing what the problem was. You know, one of those kind of mornings.

And for whatever reason, I'd woken up with a foreboding feeling. I had Psalm 42:11 on my mind from the time I rolled out of bed. It's my standard "foreboding feeling" verse.

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet raise him, my Savior and my God."

Really, what do I have to be downcast about? When my soul is disturbed, I know deep down that I really have everything. A Savior, the Lord of All. What else do I need?

But I still felt down. And then, after the craziness of getting everyone to school semi-on-time I felt rushed and down. I pulled into the carport and something to the side caught my eye.

It was my cactus.

I say "my cactus" but it was really a flower pot that was left from the previous tenant, about 1 1/2 years ago. I wanted the pot but not the plant. It was an ugly cactus. Bulbs of prickly. All crammed into a flower pot. I didn't want the cactus, but I just never got around to digging it out. I never got around to it because I do not have a green thumb. Which explains why the cactus has outlasted most of the other potted plants I own. It doesn't need that much care.

But what caught my eye was not the cactus itself. Didn't I mention that it was ugly? What caught my eye was two BIG white flowers protruding from the needly plant. How on earth did it produce such beautiful flowers? I got out of the car and walked across the cement to check it out.

Sure enough, two flowers shot out of one of the ugly bulbs. They were soft and lacy and smelled fresh, like baby powder. What on earth? It was like a beautiful gift, a reminder from the Lord to keep perspective on Cactus Days. Be the flower, not the cactus!

Why so downcast? Put your hope in God! I will praise Him, my Savior and my God.