Doctors diagnosed my wife Amy with breast cancer in early 2014. In response to this life changing news I planted a garden just outside our kitchen window.
I planted it so that every morning when we wake up the garden would greet us with the hope and promise of life’s possibilities. Since planting the garden, it’s plants have served as my growthucator. There was one plant in particular who taught me valuable life lessons.
A cucumber plant caused strong feelings to surface from within me. I planted it as a seed along with many other seeds but it did not grow at the pace that I thought it should. So I re-tilled the soil and planted cucumber seedlings. Much to my surprise a vibrant cucumber plant grew from that seed. It grew faster and produced more cucumbers than the other seedlings not to mention it was the only seed that produced anything at all.
There are three life lessons that this cucumber taught me for which I am grateful:
- Even if others try to prevent growth, we can still survive and produce.
- Our life is an inspiration to others.
- Conditions do not have to be perfect for us to grow, they just need to be the right conditions.