Since my avocado tree has decided it wants to race toward the light, it has been growing at least an inch a day, until now it stands about 10 inches tall and has 5 leaves that are about 2 inches long each. Pretty phenomenal rate of growth, considering how long the pit lounged in water with little to no change.
Every day I get a little charge out of seeing what new thing has happened to the plant. I waited a long time, and now I'm basking in the excitement of progress.
It makes me think of times in our lives when everything is going great. We got that job we wanted or that raise, or we gained some material object that is really going to help us. Or maybe ourselves or family members are in the midst of one of those key moments in life -- engagement, marriage, babies, successful potty training, got up in the morning, whatever -- and we can't help but smile and think that life is grand.
Well, I'm not trying to burst bubbles here necessarily, but I can't help but think that although you could be riding the top of a wave now (let's see how many metaphors I can use in this one entry), there is often a downside. Every wave crashes into the shore and dissipates. We are not guaranteed that the entirety of our lives will be wonderful. I think of 1 Corinthians 10:12 that says, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" More realistically, those big highs, or "mountaintop experiences" are few and far between. It's kind of like spotting a unicorn, if such things were to exist (beware the metaphor train!).
I am planning in my head how to take my tree from its cozy little drinking mug and transplanting it into a bed of potting soil in a bigger container. I'm fully aware that although it is doing great right now, something like a transplant could cause it to suddenly wither.
So I guess I'm saying to embrace the good things when they come, but be realistic and understand they may not last forever. In fact, it is entirely likely you won't see another unicorn for a long time. However, one thing IS sure in this life. God will never leave us, nor forsake us. He's always there. You can count on it.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Fits, Starts, and Sudden Growth
The last time I wrote, I was excited about a sprout that had burst out of the center of the seed. That sprout stopped growing and shriveled. But then another little sprout showed itself and raced up to the top of the seed. But it then, too, stopped growing. In all, 6 little shoots came up, reached level with the top of the seed, and then stopped growing.
I began to be suspicious that the seed was suffering from not being in the sun. Quite by chance, I was moving some things around and scooted my tree over close to my african violet, which does extraordinarily well on my desk. Would you know it that the 6th sprout of the avocado grew right up to the edge of the seed, AND KEPT GOING! It was quite exciting, at least to me.
Now I have witnessed what in plant terms is explosive growth in two weeks' time. I'm going to post a few pictures when I get them off of my camera phone, but that 6th sprout is now at least 6 inches above the seed, and has 4 leaves popping out the top! The first 5 sprouts are still there, shriveled, but I think still alive. As No. 6 was taking off, I could almost swear there were a couple of days where I thought I could see it growing up. It was showing 1/2" growth every day! I have no idea what made it go crazy all of a sudden, unless it was the proximity to the african violet, or that the move put it a little closer to the sunlight. It would probably love the window sill. I wish I could put it there.
There is an application to this. We make many efforts to be good or right, only to see them shrivel and we fall back into some habit or behavior that is damaging to ourselves or others. It is only when we move closer to the Son (Jesus) that we begin to see growth. We cannot make ourselves good. No matter how hard we try, we can never be good enough to truly please God or become eligible for heaven. It's only when we let Jesus live through us that we can see change and growth. Easy to say, difficult to live out.
This makes me think of a verse in the Bible that I will share with you as I close this entry. It is paradoxical but essential. Luke 9:24 says, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me [Jesus] will save it."
I began to be suspicious that the seed was suffering from not being in the sun. Quite by chance, I was moving some things around and scooted my tree over close to my african violet, which does extraordinarily well on my desk. Would you know it that the 6th sprout of the avocado grew right up to the edge of the seed, AND KEPT GOING! It was quite exciting, at least to me.
Now I have witnessed what in plant terms is explosive growth in two weeks' time. I'm going to post a few pictures when I get them off of my camera phone, but that 6th sprout is now at least 6 inches above the seed, and has 4 leaves popping out the top! The first 5 sprouts are still there, shriveled, but I think still alive. As No. 6 was taking off, I could almost swear there were a couple of days where I thought I could see it growing up. It was showing 1/2" growth every day! I have no idea what made it go crazy all of a sudden, unless it was the proximity to the african violet, or that the move put it a little closer to the sunlight. It would probably love the window sill. I wish I could put it there.
There is an application to this. We make many efforts to be good or right, only to see them shrivel and we fall back into some habit or behavior that is damaging to ourselves or others. It is only when we move closer to the Son (Jesus) that we begin to see growth. We cannot make ourselves good. No matter how hard we try, we can never be good enough to truly please God or become eligible for heaven. It's only when we let Jesus live through us that we can see change and growth. Easy to say, difficult to live out.
This makes me think of a verse in the Bible that I will share with you as I close this entry. It is paradoxical but essential. Luke 9:24 says, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me [Jesus] will save it."
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Longer than Expected
Finally I felt like I could post that a sprout has taken off on my avocado tree! Note the intentional use of "tree." The information I had read on various internet websites had said that anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks should be enough time to produce a sprout in your seed, submerged in water. Well after 16 weeks, there's finally a sprout that has emerged above the top of the seed.
I was tempted to give up hope, but there were enough little signs here and there that kept me from chucking it in the garbage. First, there was the root. It continued to go down, rather quickly in plant terms. Now it is curled around and around the bottom of the mug it's confined to, and the main root has little branches off it. Then there was the split. The seed split from the bottom up. I thought it was going to completely fall apart, but there's a marble-sized piece in the middle that is holding the two halves together.
Then a single sprout went up about a 1/4 inch. And stopped. Except for the phenomenal growth of the root, I would have thought it failed. And indeed, that first sprout never has gotten any taller. But you could see little buds around that sprout, of which one suddenly (well, as suddenly as two weeks can be) popped out and made a run for the light, as you can see in the most current picture.
All along I have equated this little goofy experiment with spiritual life. I don't think it's inappropriate nor a huge leap to take natural things to explain the supernatural. God made them both, and we are told in the Bible (and I paraphrase) that the evidence of God in his creation is enough for people to be without excuse when they face judgment someday. So I let a little avocado pit that I retrieved from a garbage instruct me on the ways of the Almighty.
Often the evidence of God's work in our lives takes, as the title of this entry says, "longer than expected." We can spend a lot of time really wondering what is going on, if anything. That's kind of been true since I moved back to Illinois 4 years ago. That was my time of poking sticks into the avocado seed and plunking it into some water. Since then I have had few sightings of God's direction.
However, like the split and the root, there have been small things along the way that have kept my dwindling hope from failing. Although there are no angel visitations in my dreams or messages from God painted on a billboard on the expressway, there are small encouragements along the way that indicate His promise to never leave me nor forsake me.
Perhaps I will see some sprouts in my life that show me what God is doing. Now that there is a promising growth in the avocado seed, it will be fun to see how long it takes before I may see leaves. Now THAT would be something! And you can bet I'll be back here, writing about it.
Thanks for reading!
I was tempted to give up hope, but there were enough little signs here and there that kept me from chucking it in the garbage. First, there was the root. It continued to go down, rather quickly in plant terms. Now it is curled around and around the bottom of the mug it's confined to, and the main root has little branches off it. Then there was the split. The seed split from the bottom up. I thought it was going to completely fall apart, but there's a marble-sized piece in the middle that is holding the two halves together.
Then a single sprout went up about a 1/4 inch. And stopped. Except for the phenomenal growth of the root, I would have thought it failed. And indeed, that first sprout never has gotten any taller. But you could see little buds around that sprout, of which one suddenly (well, as suddenly as two weeks can be) popped out and made a run for the light, as you can see in the most current picture.
All along I have equated this little goofy experiment with spiritual life. I don't think it's inappropriate nor a huge leap to take natural things to explain the supernatural. God made them both, and we are told in the Bible (and I paraphrase) that the evidence of God in his creation is enough for people to be without excuse when they face judgment someday. So I let a little avocado pit that I retrieved from a garbage instruct me on the ways of the Almighty.
Often the evidence of God's work in our lives takes, as the title of this entry says, "longer than expected." We can spend a lot of time really wondering what is going on, if anything. That's kind of been true since I moved back to Illinois 4 years ago. That was my time of poking sticks into the avocado seed and plunking it into some water. Since then I have had few sightings of God's direction.
However, like the split and the root, there have been small things along the way that have kept my dwindling hope from failing. Although there are no angel visitations in my dreams or messages from God painted on a billboard on the expressway, there are small encouragements along the way that indicate His promise to never leave me nor forsake me.
Perhaps I will see some sprouts in my life that show me what God is doing. Now that there is a promising growth in the avocado seed, it will be fun to see how long it takes before I may see leaves. Now THAT would be something! And you can bet I'll be back here, writing about it.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Split!
Okay, so I was just about to give up on my little oddity sitting on my desk. I thought maybe it was just rotting in the water. It had been 6 weeks, and the internet instructions I had found said that it ought to start sprouting anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks after being "planted" in water. I thought I had a dud.
Well, just about a week ago now, I picked up the little seed and notice something interesting. The bottom had split open, making it look like an 9.0 earthquake had opened a fissure in the earth. I was hopeful, but a fissure wasn't the goal here. I still saw no trace of a root on the bottom, or a shoot out of the top.
But hope springs eternal, so I waiting some more. This morning after I refilled the water, I lifted it up again to see if something was there. And something was there! Poking about 1/4 inch from the bottom is a root! IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE! MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Okay, I didn't really do a Dr. Frankenstein, that was just for effect. This is a low-budget operation. But it was good at last to see some results.
It is fascinating to me that just when the seed seemed to be totally dead and unresponsive and useless was when the root finally burst forth. This could have some allusion to spiritual life. Sometimes it seems that until we had been totally emptied of ourselves been brought low and humbled that we are finally at a place where God will use us. When we don't have a leg left to stand on, then finally when God does something through us or for us, it can then be undeniably His doing and not ours.
Another thing about this new development. The first sign of growth was in a place that couldn't be seen easily -- the root. It was under water and I didn't see it until I lifted it up. We ought to be encouraged to let our roots go deep into the soil of God's word before we can expect that green shoots will come up, or the outward evidence of God's work in us. I think that ultimately, God is more concerned with the roots than the plant anyway, metaphorically speaking.
So we'll see what happens with my avocado....seedling? I think it has graduated from a seed to a seedling, according to this layman.
Well, just about a week ago now, I picked up the little seed and notice something interesting. The bottom had split open, making it look like an 9.0 earthquake had opened a fissure in the earth. I was hopeful, but a fissure wasn't the goal here. I still saw no trace of a root on the bottom, or a shoot out of the top.
But hope springs eternal, so I waiting some more. This morning after I refilled the water, I lifted it up again to see if something was there. And something was there! Poking about 1/4 inch from the bottom is a root! IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE! MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Okay, I didn't really do a Dr. Frankenstein, that was just for effect. This is a low-budget operation. But it was good at last to see some results.
It is fascinating to me that just when the seed seemed to be totally dead and unresponsive and useless was when the root finally burst forth. This could have some allusion to spiritual life. Sometimes it seems that until we had been totally emptied of ourselves been brought low and humbled that we are finally at a place where God will use us. When we don't have a leg left to stand on, then finally when God does something through us or for us, it can then be undeniably His doing and not ours.
Another thing about this new development. The first sign of growth was in a place that couldn't be seen easily -- the root. It was under water and I didn't see it until I lifted it up. We ought to be encouraged to let our roots go deep into the soil of God's word before we can expect that green shoots will come up, or the outward evidence of God's work in us. I think that ultimately, God is more concerned with the roots than the plant anyway, metaphorically speaking.
So we'll see what happens with my avocado....seedling? I think it has graduated from a seed to a seedling, according to this layman.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Between the Testaments
I started my little avocado tree project with lots of optimism and gusto, all ready to nurture a cute little shoot from my impulse. I have diligently kept the water level right up to the top of the mug that it sits in, and made sure a light source was readily available.
Something I read somewhere on the internet said that it could take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks for a shoot to appear from the seed. This has just passed 4 weeks, and there is not even a hint of anything alive. No roots from the bottom, and no splitting of the top to give way to a green shoot. Just a grungy looking, gradually shriveling seed.
So I will myself to just continue to care for this thing and see what happens. Sometimes it seems pointless and I think maybe I ought to just abandon this. After all, this is not my job. It's just a little avocado pit, rescued from some guacamole.
But then I started to think about the nation of Israel. From what I understand, there was about 400 years between the end of the Old Testament portion of the Bible and the new. Many prophecies were given of the coming of the Messiah that would bring salvation and redemption to His people.
But then the days stretched into weeks and months. Without any word or inspiration, years and decades and even centuries passed by. I've waited 4 weeks for a plant where they waited 400 years for a savior. I would think that many Israelites began to think that nothing was going to happen. People were born, raised and died with no sign of the promised one.
In fact, they waited so long that when it happened, and Jesus appeared as a baby in tiny Bethlehem, no one noticed, except a few select individuals. I have a feeling that I'll come into work some morning and see a small crack in the top of the seed on my desk. When I do, I'll smile and think of my Messiah.
Something I read somewhere on the internet said that it could take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks for a shoot to appear from the seed. This has just passed 4 weeks, and there is not even a hint of anything alive. No roots from the bottom, and no splitting of the top to give way to a green shoot. Just a grungy looking, gradually shriveling seed.
So I will myself to just continue to care for this thing and see what happens. Sometimes it seems pointless and I think maybe I ought to just abandon this. After all, this is not my job. It's just a little avocado pit, rescued from some guacamole.
But then I started to think about the nation of Israel. From what I understand, there was about 400 years between the end of the Old Testament portion of the Bible and the new. Many prophecies were given of the coming of the Messiah that would bring salvation and redemption to His people.
But then the days stretched into weeks and months. Without any word or inspiration, years and decades and even centuries passed by. I've waited 4 weeks for a plant where they waited 400 years for a savior. I would think that many Israelites began to think that nothing was going to happen. People were born, raised and died with no sign of the promised one.
In fact, they waited so long that when it happened, and Jesus appeared as a baby in tiny Bethlehem, no one noticed, except a few select individuals. I have a feeling that I'll come into work some morning and see a small crack in the top of the seed on my desk. When I do, I'll smile and think of my Messiah.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Almost 2 weeks
I've been watching my avocado pit and replenishing its water every day. I'm amazed at how quickly the water level goes down. Of course, it has been really dry lately.
Two weeks in, I think of what I've heard about seeds. I think that it is a fact of the way nature works (or rather how God has orchestrated it) that the seed falls to the ground, and in the process of dying and of decay, new growth begins. I think there are nutrients and such that come from the breakdown of the seed that give sustenance to a new plant. I'm not a Avocado Scientist, so it's a layman's opinion.
I've certainly seen that in this pit. I guess there was a little bit of doubt in my mind if this would really work. It was a little bit of faith to stick my Starbucks' stirs into it and plop it in water. I've watched it for two weeks, and I guess it could go either way. It could sit there and soak up water and rot and never have a shoot. Or it will surprise me soon with some evidence that it's alive.
It has some strange oozing in some cracks on the side, and the top is completely dried out. Yesterday I noticed it has some fuzzy mold on the side. So I'm a little skeptical about its potential, but I will wait. There's no sprout at the top yet, although there is a little dark spot there. I've picked it up a few times, and no roots.
I'm all set to seize the symbolism of the old part dying away and the new life beginning. You know, death to our sinful nature and new life in Christ. Hopefully that is the way this works out and my faith comes to fruition, or else this blog will be really, really short.
I did not take a picture this week, since it looks exactly the same as last week, except for the fuzz.
Two weeks in, I think of what I've heard about seeds. I think that it is a fact of the way nature works (or rather how God has orchestrated it) that the seed falls to the ground, and in the process of dying and of decay, new growth begins. I think there are nutrients and such that come from the breakdown of the seed that give sustenance to a new plant. I'm not a Avocado Scientist, so it's a layman's opinion.
I've certainly seen that in this pit. I guess there was a little bit of doubt in my mind if this would really work. It was a little bit of faith to stick my Starbucks' stirs into it and plop it in water. I've watched it for two weeks, and I guess it could go either way. It could sit there and soak up water and rot and never have a shoot. Or it will surprise me soon with some evidence that it's alive.
It has some strange oozing in some cracks on the side, and the top is completely dried out. Yesterday I noticed it has some fuzzy mold on the side. So I'm a little skeptical about its potential, but I will wait. There's no sprout at the top yet, although there is a little dark spot there. I've picked it up a few times, and no roots.
I'm all set to seize the symbolism of the old part dying away and the new life beginning. You know, death to our sinful nature and new life in Christ. Hopefully that is the way this works out and my faith comes to fruition, or else this blog will be really, really short.
I did not take a picture this week, since it looks exactly the same as last week, except for the fuzz.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
My Avocado Tree
This is an awfully silly thing to blog about, I must admit. But I did something funny one day and I thought I'd write my thoughts about it.
We have a break time in our office division, every Wednesday at 10 am. We have a signup list for people who will bring food and drink for that break. On this particular day, someone brought in guacamole dip and chips. When I got to my seat with my dip and chips, I discovered that my dip had an avocado pit in it. Evidently you are supposed to put the pits in the dip. It tastes better or something. I don't know these subtleties.
I took it out and sort of cleaned it off. I remarked to those sitting close to me that it had a really cool design and color to it. It was sort of amber with a mixture of lights and darks and it was attractive to me.
At first I threw it away. I had flippantly said that oh, I should grow an avocado tree from it! But I passed it off as just another goofy thing that I say on occasion. I went back to my desk three floors up and then I got curious.
I started looking around at how to grow your own avocado tree. By the way, I always want to spell avocado wrong. My fingers want to type avacodo, for some reason. Anyway, I found quite a bit of information on how to grow your own tree from an avocado pit. You stick three toothpicks into it and suspend it in water. Then supposedly, anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks you should get a sprout out the top and roots out the bottom.
So on a whim, I decided to try it. I rushed back down and retrieved my pit from the garbage can. Hopefully my pit wasn't offended by being thrown away.
I've had a mug in my storage cabinet by my desk that I never use, so I put some water in that. I didn't have any toothpicks, but I did have some wooden stir sticks from Starbucks. And it just so happened that I had my pocketknife with me. So, I whittled small, sharp ends in three 2" stick pieces and plunged them into the pit. I wondered a bit at the injury this would cause, but that's what the internet told me to do.
Now I had my pit sitting in water. We'll see what time will do to it.
We have a break time in our office division, every Wednesday at 10 am. We have a signup list for people who will bring food and drink for that break. On this particular day, someone brought in guacamole dip and chips. When I got to my seat with my dip and chips, I discovered that my dip had an avocado pit in it. Evidently you are supposed to put the pits in the dip. It tastes better or something. I don't know these subtleties.
I took it out and sort of cleaned it off. I remarked to those sitting close to me that it had a really cool design and color to it. It was sort of amber with a mixture of lights and darks and it was attractive to me.
At first I threw it away. I had flippantly said that oh, I should grow an avocado tree from it! But I passed it off as just another goofy thing that I say on occasion. I went back to my desk three floors up and then I got curious.
I started looking around at how to grow your own avocado tree. By the way, I always want to spell avocado wrong. My fingers want to type avacodo, for some reason. Anyway, I found quite a bit of information on how to grow your own tree from an avocado pit. You stick three toothpicks into it and suspend it in water. Then supposedly, anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks you should get a sprout out the top and roots out the bottom.
So on a whim, I decided to try it. I rushed back down and retrieved my pit from the garbage can. Hopefully my pit wasn't offended by being thrown away.
I've had a mug in my storage cabinet by my desk that I never use, so I put some water in that. I didn't have any toothpicks, but I did have some wooden stir sticks from Starbucks. And it just so happened that I had my pocketknife with me. So, I whittled small, sharp ends in three 2" stick pieces and plunged them into the pit. I wondered a bit at the injury this would cause, but that's what the internet told me to do.
Now I had my pit sitting in water. We'll see what time will do to it.
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