Dinosaur Plant

Today I'd like to introduce you to my second little love, "Dinosaur Plant" (you can see part 1 of this series here). Dinosaur Plant made it's debut the day after my mom passed away. It showed up as a gift from a very dear friend who lives a long way off. I have to be honest, when I first received this plant, I wasn't on friendly terms with it yet. I didn't even want to be it's friend. I just wanted it to go away.

While it is lovely, it showed up as a gift, a consolation, in the wake of a pretty shocking grief. But if I'm totally gut level honest, I kind of hated it at first. Not because it isn't a nice plant, it came from a very dear friend, out of a deeply loving heart. But because I wanted my mom. Only 5-1/2 weeks before, my mom and I sat on the phone one night, 1,200 miles apart, as she said those words I will never forget, "the doctor thinks I have 3 months left to live," following a shocking diagnosis that suddenly sucked all the air out the room. I wanted to instantly throw this plant out of the house - tell it to get lost and not bring any of its friends back with it. We were done! I didn't want a small consolation prize, I wanted my mom.

Over time, little by little, this beauty began to grow on me. Eeeeeever so slowly, we became friends. What started out as a very unlikely friendship began to slowly grow within my heart. It didn't require much watering (you know how this goes by now), but it did require just the tiniest bit of care here and there. As I cared for it over the weeks, it grew steadily, with it's lush green leaves. Slowly, a few single leaves would poke out and unfurl over the course of a few days. This became richly satisfying to watch, as it continued to fill out. 

One day, my oldest daughter walked into the room, pausing briefly to examine it's recent growth, and stated very matter-of-factly, "it looks like something a dinosaur would eat." I can't even begin to explain why this struck my funny bone so hard at that particular moment, but I found myself doubled over with much-needed laughter. She had been studying the period of the dinosaurs in school, and to her it looked just like one of those drawings you find in the prehistoric section of kids' history books. I had to admit, it kind of did, with it's almost other-worldly bright pink veins. 

But more than that, it brought my mom back, along with a little bit of laughter and a whole lot of joy. My mom always had a song for everything. She could have an entire conversation with nothing more than little clips from various songs as her answers to everything. It is a trait I inherited to drive my kids equally nuts, but mine has a little different twist. I have the knack for making up total nonsense songs out of the air to tune of popular songs. I am convinced that if I were ever to win any game show on TV, it would be "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" (do NOT ask me to do this - so not happening in public). Suddenly, the theme song to the show "Dinosaur Train" popped into my head, from back when my kids were little. Only my version is now "Dinosaur Plant." Take a listen - once you hear it, you can't unhear it. 

Now, when I see this plant, and my daughter is somewhere in the background nearby, just close enough to get annoyed, you can be sure I'm singing "Din-o-saur plant, din-o-saur plant." I get the perfunctory eye roll (and an hidden giggle) and the tradition lives on. My mom would be proud. There are so many little gifts that God sends us each day, things that we may not initially want, things that can even feel like a lousy consolation prize compared to whatever we think we want so badly at first, but it's amazing to me how those little gifts can do so much within our lives to help us see joy and His hand at work once again. What little unexpected "gifts" has He brought into your own life over the years and how did those things help you get back on track once again?