| Their delicate, bouncy leaves seem to call to me as I | | | | can find so many reasons to complain! Often I'm |
| walk through the nursery section, and I should know | | | | ashamed of how "self-sensitive" I am: brooding over |
| better, but I can't resist the beauty of the Boston | | | | less-than-perfect environments. I can't contribute |
| Fern. Every woman who buys one hopes this one will | | | | anything to the world if I waste precious energy on |
| do better than the last one; but most end up | | | | self-protection, shedding leaves every time conditions |
| lamenting their inability to keep alive. After several | | | | are not perfect. After all the brown leaves have |
| disastrous experiences with the Boston Fern, most | | | | been swept off the floor, what is left of me to be |
| give up, convinced they have a black thumb. | | | | of service to God? |
| Boston Ferns are definitely one of God's lovelier | | | | When we meet face-to-face, I don't want to be |
| creations, but, oh those thin , delicate leaves! They | | | | ashamed of all the coddling I demanded. I want to |
| need constant baby doses of feeding, an ideal | | | | bloom royally, like the reliable red geranium, and show |
| environment of cool humidity, the gentle | | | | Him how I was able to thrive even under the most |
| early-morning sun caressing them from above their | | | | unfavorable conditions! |
| leaves, and continual fussing over! And how they | | | | "Lord, help me mature past the stage of having to |
| shed their leaves when they're not happy! What a | | | | be milk-fed, misted, or coddled. Grow me into a |
| mess! They remind me of attractive, but thin-skinned | | | | lovely mature Christian who is not easily offended. |
| people . | | | | Toughen me up, Lord. Make a gracious, beautiful |
| Sometimes I find myself behaving just like a fern! I | | | | Christian out of me. |