My snapdragons did not grow as I expected them to this year.

I planted the plants in late January. They were nice straight plants, and a few were already budding.

I expected them to grow into straight tall stalks with blooms appearing in early March. The stalks did grow. And they grew. And they grew.

They got so tall that they curved and bent to the ground because of the weight of the buds on them. They twisted and stuck out like the cartoon hair of someone caught in a light socket.

Finally, the blooms came, and they are beautiful, but they are all over the place! I have begun cutting them to keep them off the ground, and they have graced my table – somewhat of a random bouquet, but lovely none the less.

Crazy snapdragons. What made them grow like that this year?

My unmet expectations regarding my snapdragons remind me of how I can sometimes be toward other people. I expect them to grow in a certain way, to stand straight and tall, to bloom on demand, and to generally fit the mold that lives in my mind.

Instead, they take longer to mature than I like, they find interests outside of my norm, and they bloom all over the place.

Seldom do people fit my expectations, and what a boring world it would be if they did.

God, in His wisdom, created variety in personalities and temperaments. He gifted people in so many ways to meet the needs in this world.

His church is a lot like my crazy snapdragons with people growing and blooming all over the place, and His work is lovely to behold.

My job is to appreciate His work, to love His snapdragons however they are blooming, and to bloom as He has gifted me. What a wonderful garden (church) we can all make together.

I Corinthians 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him.

I Corinthians 12:25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in His time: also He hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Romans 14:4 Who art thou that judges another man’s servant? to his own master he stands or falls. Yea, he shall be held up: for God is able to make him stand.

Photo – Snapdragon Bouquet, Beth Mims