One day, my mother and I were working together in the garden where we were transplanting plants for the third time.
Grown from seed in a small container, the plants had been transferred to a larger container; then transplanted into the garden. Now, because I was moving, we were transplanting them once again.
Inexperienced as a gardener, I turned to my green-thumbed mother. “Isn’t this bad for them?” I asked, as we dug them up and shook the dirt from the roots. “Won’t it hurt these plants, being uprooted and transplanted so many times?”
“Oh” my mother replied. “Transplanting doesn’t hurt them. In fact, it’s good for the ones that survive. That’s how their roots grow strong. Their roots will grow deep, and they will make strong plants”.
Often, I’ve felt like those small plants – uprooted and turned upside. Sometimes I’ve endured the change willingly, sometimes reluctantly, but usually my reaction has been a combination. Won’t this be hard on me? I ask. Wouldn’t things be better if things remained the same? That’s when I remember my mother’s words: That’s how the roots grow deep and strong.
By Chaplain Lisa Bohannon
