One day, about 3 years ago, my husband and I went to an event and parked our car in a grassy
lot. When we came back to the car, I noticed something that looked out of place buried in
flattened grass near the back wheel of the car. It looked like a cactus plant petal. What was this
doing in a grassy field in Florida? Being a bit of a plant rescuer, I wrapped it up in a rag and
decided to bring it home to see what I could do with it.
I put the cactus petal in a small pot with some soil and added it to my collection of plants on my
lanai. It started to grow.
In less than 6 months, I transplanted it to a larger pot and put it outside on my paver patio.
Each day I would check on it, water it when it got too dry, and added support sticks to try to
make it grow straight within the pot. I was pleased with myself that I could keep an arid plant
alive in the humid climate of Florida.
As it grew, the cactus became more and more threatening. Sometimes I would accidently bump
into it as I walked around it to water the raised bed gardens on my patio. Once in a while I
knocked off a piece of it. Every time I went near the cactus, I would get tiny hair-like spines
clinging to my body. Eventually one of the spines became imbedded in my thumb. Every now
and then, I think I still feel it.
I decided that I had better find a new home for this cactus or do some research to find out what
kind of cactus I had so I could do a better job of caring for it.
To my amazement, I discovered that it was a Florida native Prickly Pear cactus. I had not
known that cactuses were native to Florida! I also found out that the best way that I could care
for it was to leave it alone and stop fussing with it.
After our Central Florida frost in early February, I relocated the cactus to the top of the hill in
my yard under a tree and left it alone. In April, it surprised me with a beautiful yellow flower
that lasted one day. Each day new blooms appeared. It gave me lots of joy! I am looking
forward to, maybe, getting prickly pears too.
My experience with the cactus shows us that everything that God creates has a purpose, but
we may need to seek to understand HIS purpose. This involves shifting our focus from our own
personal plans, to God’s.
Mary Kaeding
Look for a new reflection each Saturday. I will post Part 2 next week.