Hoping for Spring

By Clare Ogle, an MHS houseparent

A few months ago, I ran past a friend’s house and I saw these awesome flowers in her yard that looked like giant pom-poms with bursts of color. They were big, tall, huge flowers and it was so cool to see them standing tall above everything else in the flowerbed.

I did some online searching until I found them for a really good price. I quickly ordered 60 bulbs. When they arrived, they didn’t look like much—just little bulbs in two bags. Nothing like the big, beautiful flowers I saw in my friend’s yard.

Thankfully, the weather was great and I had already decided I was going to plant them right in front of our white porch railing. I dug hole after hole and planted bulb after bulb until all 60 were in the ground.

And now, I wait. All the way until spring.

Will all 60 come up and bloom? Did I plant them correctly? Will the winter be too hard on them? Only time will tell.

This parallels so well with houseparenting. Our students have amazing potential to be bold, brave, and to stand out from among the rest. But it’s going to cost me something to cultivate them. It’s going to cost me time and patience—the price of helping others is rarely cheap.

And just like with my bulbs, I will do what I can and then I’ll wait. Perhaps it will only take a year to see these guys blossom into who they are going to become—bold leaders, fearless athletes, strong scholars, and men of character. For others, their winter might be longer.

Sometimes, it might take years until we see any type of bloom. But that doesn’t stop us from planting seeds.

We plant seeds of hope, seeds of self-confidence, seeds of forgiveness, and seeds of character, integrity, mutual respect, and commitment to mission.

Commitment to mission is clearly displayed by gardeners and houseparents alike. We are committed to making the world a better, more beautiful place. We hope that springtime will come and our efforts will have paid off. But in the meantime, we plant, work, wait, and hope for spring.