When Progress Overtakes Patience

Spring Break in Memphis this year brought the first warm, sunny day in what felt like years. Amo, our dog, hoped he would finally be walked again. The two of us may have been more excited than the rest of Memphis combined that the warm weather is almost here to stay!The schedule that week was unpredictable. As the parent of teens, I am learning that I need to be available and flexible. Most of the time, flexibility is required because teens rarely plan things in advance and frequently need transportation. (This fall, I will write about the pain of having a student driver. For now, I will be grateful that I am the wheels.) The other reason I need to be flexible is because I don’t want to miss those decreasing times where my kids actually want to hang out with their mom. Yep, it has happened.I never realized how hard it is for me to be flexible. Add to that the need to have zero expectations of accomplishing anything for the week, and you find me in unchartered territory. So, in between dropping Mark off to fish with some friends and waiting for Annika to return from a trip with her youth group, I found myself with about 30 minutes to spare with no agenda. It was so beautiful outside that I could not bring myself to pay bills, so I decided I would tend to the flower beds.Forget changing into yard clothes, I headed out in jeans and my Toms to just pick up the leaves that had been collecting in the cold. Before I could control myself, I had grabbed the trimmers and a trash can and was ready to go to town getting the front flower beds ready for the spring. I started hacking away at branches that appeared brittle and brown. As soon as I got done with the first, I started to move to the second sparse bush. I leaned down to start my speedy work when I suddenly noticed a few knots coming up on these brittle branches. Could it be that these were the beginning signs of a new bloom? In my haste and desire to be productive, I never stopped to consider if I really knew what I was doing. A little panic and a quick text to a friend who owns a landscaping company and my fears were affirmed. I had just cut down a hydrangea plant that would now need to be replaced.There it was: living evidence that I am so eager to see progress that I hurt what had been growing on God’s timetable. What about you? I hope you have a greener thumb than me, but before you have similar regrets, consider: Where are you expecting too much too soon? Are you ready to give up on a project because it is not taking off like you desired? Are you throwing in the towel on the prayer that seems to still go unanswered after all these years? Are you frustrated because your child just doesn’t seem to be progressing like everyone else’s?The hydrangea I destroyed had likely been growing for 10 years. In about 30 seconds, I eliminated all the progress that had occurred since it was planted. Take it from me: don’t get in a hurry and don’t mess with things you don’t know anything about!