Daffodils

Last spring in our neighbor's yard, beautiful daffodils appeared. I enjoyed them so much all spring. They were beautiful! I told our neighbor, "Next fall I am going to plant daffodils around my yard too!" I was highly motivated to carry through with my plan to plant beautiful daffodils around our yard.

Fall came. The weather was colder. I had so many things to do. I thought, "I just don't want to plant daffodil bulbs right now." All my motivation to plant the bulbs was gone. "I'll do it another year," I thought.

Then one fall day Sandy, my master-gardener friend gave me a gift. It was a sack of 40 daffodil bulbs of many varieties. I appreciated her kindness, and I remembered how much I enjoyed our neighbors daffodils. "Hmmmmmmm, I thought. Maybe I will plant these bulbs this fall........sometime."

Then it started to rain. I am pretty much a fair weather gardener. What little blub-planting motivation I had was escaping fast. Mud, cold, rain. Plant the daffodil bulbs? I don't think so!

Then one day the rain stopped. The weather was mild and the sun shone. It was now or never. I decided to go for it! I would plant my bulbs that day. And I did! In fact, as I determined where I would plant the daffodils, I decided that I needed more. A quick visit to the local nursery rewarded me with 80 more daffodil bulbs - on sale for half price! What a deal!

I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I finally had done what I had wanted to do for many years but never did. I looked at the spots of disturbed earth where I had planted each grouping of daffodils and hoped the whole thing would work - that beautiful daffodils would one day bloom in the spring.

That was the end of that. I had to wait. And wait. And wait. I pretty much forgot about my daffodils because I had to wait for so long. Those bulbs that I planted didn't look like much. My expectations for beautiful daffodils was put on the shelf. Spring was soooooo far away!

Just the other day I saw some little green shoots. Oh the joy! It's only February and my daffodils are actually coming up! It did work! And in a few more weeks I just might have beautiful yellow blossoms to enjoy all around the yard. I have such hope!

It occured to me that planting daffodil bulbs is like obeying the commandments. We want to do it, but sometimes it takes us awhile to get our motivation to turn into action. And we feel accomplishment when we obey. But then we have to wait. And wait. And wait. Things seem pretty much the same after we've done the obeying. Sometimes we forget the promises of the Lord and put our expectations on the shelf. But then, when we're not expecting it, we see that it does work. A wonderful blessing is given to us, and we can hardly believe it! Our breath is taken away by the beauty of the blessing we've been given. It is always way above our expectations, and it always involves much joy.

So take it from me. Planting daffodil bulbs DOES work. And so does obeying the commandments. They both require action, a little time, and faith in the Savior. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)