Thoughts: Hannah's Blog

Yet another gardening post! Sorry about that, I’m into plants, more than usual lately. I have come into the routine of watering my plants and enjoy watching them grow. I’m more of a flowers kind of girl so when my husband expressed his desire to purchase a Monstera Deliciosa (not a flowering plant) from Chennai and bring it all the way to Bangalore, I was not that excited.

We decided to shift it to a bigger pot and place it in the landing area near the stairs. We got it in October last year and till March there was no growth. The plant didn’t die, the leaves didn’t wither or yellow apart from the occasional damages it received due to us hitting it accidentally when passing by it.

My husband was ok with it staying green as long as it didn’t die. But I was not happy with it, I kept wondering why does it not grow, all plants are supposed to grow. So what are we doing wrong? I thought maybe the sunlight is not enough, maybe it needs more nutrients, so we added fertilisers, still no growth.

Then I decided to add a support, added a moss stick and tied the leaves to it. Removed the damaged leaves, hoping that would trigger new growth. In short, I did all that google suggested. Still no growth. I was disappointed but continued to water and continued to add fertiliser once every 2 weeks.

2 weeks ago, I was surprised to notice a new leaf popping out of the ground. It made my day! I was so happy, I even made a note of it in my journal! And today 2 weeks later, it is slowly unfurling and another leaf also managed to come up from the ground!

I guess it just needed time. Just like me. There were times in my life I’ve felt stagnant. No visible signs of growth in me. I was disappointed in the way things were in and around me.

While I was googling for reasons why my monstera is not growing after repotting to a bigger pot, I got to read that as there is more place for the plant to grow, it concentrates on growing longer roots and hence new leaves might be delayed. So growth was happening on the inside which I was not aware of.

Growing roots are important too. It’s ok if the signs of growth are not visible. We do have a gardener who never gives up on us and continues to water us and feed us through the seemingly dormant season and in the flourishing seasons, in every season he is the same unchanging God.

As I stand at the close of yet another year of my life, I wonder how far I’ve grown? Have I been all that I was meant to be? Did I get to fulfil the purpose for which I was created? Did I bring delight to my Gardener? What has he written about me in his journal? Answers await at the other side of eternity, till then I aim to walk this life on earth, being and growing in to all that He wants me to be.

Happy Birthday to me!