The Little Violets

 

As a present on Mother’s Day, my youngest granddaughter, Evelyn, gave me some violets.  The tiny pink blossoms perfectly matched the pink container in which they grew.

At first, I put them in the room where I tend to write.  It wasn’t long before I realized they needed something I wasn’t giving them.  I researched violet care and found they preferred diffused eastern light.  I had them facing a western window with almost direct sun.  The only place I could find that perfectly matched what they liked best was my bathroom window.  So, I moved them to that window sill. 

Every morning they greet me with their pretty pink blossoms.  However, they did not do as well there as I expected.  Then I realized they were missing something.  They needed to be fed! 

I purchased some violet food and began to feed them every two weeks according to the package directions.  For my tiny violets, the violet food is 1/4 a teaspoon in a quart of water.  They get about a tablespoon in their container twice a month. That one bottle of violet food will last me forever!

But the tiny bit of food has made a tremendous difference in the violets. Before they would have one or two blooms, now they have an abundance of pink faces looking up at me each morning. 

Evelyn

The simple sight brings me joy.  That joy is compounded when I think of my four-year-old granddaughter telling her mother that she wanted to give me these for Mother’s Day.

A tiny bit of food made a big difference. 

We all need food as well.  Not just physical food, but spiritual food.  I once heard a gentleman say, “Read the Bible every day, even if it is only one verse.”  Many may not feel they have the time or opportunity to read large passages of Scripture each day. But perhaps we can read one chapter or even one verse.

 If we cannot stop to read the Bible at this moment, let us think of the verses that are most likely stored away in our memory and recite them to ourselves.  That tiny bit of the Lord’s Word would be like the tiny bit of food my violets are thriving upon. The Scriptures have many themes of small things leading to big things, such as the tiny mustard seed, which the Lord described as "the least of all seeds," growing into "the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof," (Matthew 13:31, 32.)

Let us then set apart a few minutes each day to read and to think about God’s word, to remember it in our hearts, even if it is just a verse or two. And like my tiny violets, let us turn our faces to our Lord and Creator.

“When Thou saidst, Seek ye my face;
my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.”   
Psalm 27:8