At the beginning of summer, I thought a red theme would be nice and I picked up two hanging baskets of geraniums for my front porch. The color stood out and they contained ivy vines in them.
Needless to say, I didn’t water them as I should and they looked pretty bad. I had resigned to throwing them away and starting over with fresh baskets when a friend that was over encouraged me to keep them. She said they would come back again with some tlc.
So I pruned all the dead leaves away and watered them. It wasn’t long before they were thriving and blooming with bright, red flowers.
It reminded me of an episode of Little House on the Prairie that I recently watched with my daughter.
This particular episode was about a severe drought that had impacted Walnut Grove, and Almanzo and Laura’s apple trees were dying. Almanzo was working himself too hard trying to save their orchard and suffered a stroke. They suffered another tragedy when a tornado destroyed their house.
Almanzo was so depressed he gave up, but one thing pulled him through. He found a tiny geranium plant in his yard that he begin to take care of. With the proper care it began to thrive and it was enough motivation for Almanzo that he began to push himself to walk again and rebuild his home.
It was such a little thing that gave him hope; taking care of a tiny flower. I felt the Lord tug at my heart, to take care of the little things. I don’t have the great tragedies that seem constant on Little House on the Prairie, but life can still be stressful at times.
It was a good reminder for me; to care for the geraniums, that little things matter, and to enjoy the fragrant blooms in this beautiful season of summer.
Fears and Tears 
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