Back in May I wrote about the freeze that killed some of my plants and left me wondering about the viability of others. That blog post is below.

https://wordpress.com/post/ourfathersdaughters.com/5632

I love flowers and thanks to family, especially my father, and generous friends, we have a large variety of flowers that bloom in our yard year after year. Last year my various hydrangeas bloomed profusely.

• purple (from Deanna) I gave away over 30 blooms and had vases full on our table for weeks
• pink (rehabbed from “reduced for quick sale”) about 20 blooms
• blue (from our daughter Salem’s first home in Virginia) too numerous to count.
• white (here when we moved here – planted by Peggy Queen Mason) bloomed so abundantly I gave bunches away.

This year –

• no purple
• no pink
• blue – just now blooming! 8 blossoms so far
• white – lots like last year

Blue hydrangeas are my absolute favorite flower and they set their buds early in the spring. A late freeze is always a concern for these non-native perennials. A late freeze in April killed the buds on the blue, purple, and pink varieties. No blooms in late spring. Yet this year, because we have not had a freeze yet, those plants that didn’t bloom in May are blooming now. There are buds ALL over them, but most will not fully mature before a freeze sometime later this month. So, I am enjoying the few I have.

My family can attest to the disappointment I feel when my beloved hydrangeas freeze. Yet I also realize that compared to the deep sorrows many in our world are facing, frozen flowers are insignificant. All throughout our lives we will face disappointment – and worse – because we live in a broken, fallen world. Sorrow and loss are a part of living on this planet. The challenge comes then in the way I face disappointment and loss. Will I focus on the loss – what I don’t have? Will I enjoy what I do have? Will I view my adverse circumstances as barriers to following Jesus or opportunities for Jesus to meet me in the midst of my suffering? Paul wrote about this in Romans and Paul recently had experienced beatings and imprisonment!

Romans 5:4-6 NLT
4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, our ultimate salvation is assured. Jesus died and rose again and broke the power of sin and death.

That hope and assurance will NEVER lead to disappointment.