I wish I had a green thumb. I wish I had all the plants that Jonathan Orantes has in the background of his welcome segment on the online service - one beautiful leafy pot after another.

I have a few plants in my home that I’m somehow managing to keep alive (let’s be honest, they’re all the low-maintenance kind), but the experience I really want to replicate is the garden my dad tended to in my childhood home: an assortment of flowers on one side, and vegetables and fruit galore on the other. 

Perhaps my second most favorite thing about the garden in addition to time with my dad were my hummingbird visitors. They were there so often, sometimes I believed I was a Disney princess talking with my companions. They were magical!

But when the time came to own my own home, the “garden” looked more like a scene from Jurassic Park before we surrendered to the cement truck. The only greenery available is a small oak tree and flowers growing over my neighbor’s fence that sometimes feel more like a nuisance than decor (they grow really fast and leave vines all over the place!).

It took a pandemic to push us to buy some outdoor furniture and even spend time in our own backyard after having lived here for 8 years. But we all needed a change of scenery.

Inspired, I took my quiet time outside with a mug of tea and my Bible when I heard a familiar chirping sound overhead. A hummingbird was in my backyard! It had come over to drink from my neighbor’s flowers on my side of the fence!

I was amazed that the flowers that sometimes caused me frustration were the very thing delivering my delight. Simple as it might be, but the hummingbirds represent a time in my life that was filled with calm and joy. And I didn’t have to lift a non-green finger to experience it. My neighbor unknowingly did.

Isn’t it just like our heavenly Father to answer our prayers when and where we least expect it? That in the middle of our thinking “it’s all on us,” He provides another way? That even the very things we either take for granted or despise, He uses for our good?

One of my favorite things about our Father is His creativity, especially in the way He shows up and answers our prayers. It doesn’t keep me on my toes as much as it keeps me on my knees. He loves us so much, and He loves us so well. And we get to love Him back!

Perhaps you’ve been praying for a while or you’ve yet to see the Lord answer your prayers. Keep praying.

Feel like you need to take matters into your hands? Keep praying.

Not sure what to even pray for anymore? Keep praying.

Pray by looking first for Jesus. He’s findable! Because when we make Him our focus, that’s when we see everything else we’ve been praying for. The Giver is generous - whether it be via your garden, a bouquet, or a sneaky vine. 

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7