I go for a walk and find these pretty, tiny, yellow flowers growing everywhere. I pluck some stems to bring home and find a patch of it growing by the driveway. I stick the flowers in a bottle of water and place it in my room. It turns out, these flowers wake and sleep like we do, with the sun and with the moon.
It’s the Oxalis pes-caprae, also known as the Bermuda buttercup or African wood-sorrel. It’s a weed! More than that, it’s an invasive weed “transplanted to California early in the 1900s, probably to be grown as a demure ornamental plant” but is now causing trouble, according to Bay Nature.
The funny thing is, my room doesn’t get direct sunlight. There’s a small sunroof and a window to the garage. That’s it. Still, this tiny, yellow weed knows when it’s time to sleep and when to wake. That first night, I think I had killed it. That’s how horrible I am with plants. I resign to throw them away in the morning, but wake to a pleasant surprise. I’m not a flower killer after all!
Every time I look at the tiny, yellow blossoms, I feel a soft tap, tap, tap in my heart and I know it’s from the Holy Spirit. He’s trying to remind me of something and He’s using a weed to do it.
I have been going on walks because of health reasons I have just found out. It’s a blow and part of me wants to sprint into better health. Join a gym. Eat all the salads. Change my lifestyle so I don’t need medication.
Those all sound great, but the road to better health is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. (Look at me using running terms. I hate running.) Today, I have a cold. This week, the rain is pouring. I feel a chill in my bones and it’s a struggle to breathe. And the Spirit is telling to me look at the Oxalis.
There is time to wake up and bloom. There is also time to sleep and rest. My road to better health will have time for both, whether I like it or not (like being forced to slow down).
When we receive bad news, we can fall into despair and do nothing, or become very motivated to change, or do those things in turns. I have done my crying, and now I’m changing. I suspect there will be more crying and changing in the future because the road to better health is a process. A new healthy lifestyle is something I need to continue to work on , one demure step at a time, until it becomes invasive like the Oxalis.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” Galatians 6:9 (ESV).
Don’t give up in doing good for God, your health, your family, the people around you, the cause you champion. Whatever it is that you are created to do, don’t grow weary in doing that good thing by remembering the Oxalis. Work hard and rest well.
[bctt tweet=”Work hard and rest well. Make time for both.” username=”annaangela”]
Fun Fact: The Oxalis pes-caprae is EDIBLE! It’s also called sourgrass because of its sour, lemony taste. It’s high in oxalic acid (found in many other vegetables and foods), which would only cause problems if consumed in large quantities.
