I have recently realized that I like Azalea bushes (also known as Rhododendrons) quite a lot. I think it really hit me in 2020 when the world was frozen in fear and isolation and the rush of life had screeched to a halt.
If I’m being honest, 2020 was probably one of my favorite seasons of life that I can remember. That Spring, Traci and I were living in a fifth-wheel camper in Calera, Alabama. We spent a lot of time outdoors just enjoying nature, evenings sitting by the fire pit playing cards or whatever games we were enjoying at the time, fishing, playing with our two dachshund pups, and just hanging out a lot. Sure, we had work responsibilities to handle, but they were very much reduced from what our normal schedule had been. I’m thankful to have been working for an organization that kept everyone on staff and continued to pay us just as if we were in the office 40+ hours a week. It was a huge blessing.
In early April that year, we ended up going to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and walking around on our anniversary. We stopped and got coffee and just went and walked through the park and sipped and talked. I remember the Azaleas were in full bloom and it was absolutely breathtaking to see.
I think my favorite colors are the deep reds, crimsons, purples, and pure whites. I like the bicolor “Mountain Azaleas” too. They have a dark pink center and fade to pale pink or almost white toward the tips of the flower pedals. I’m not as fond of the yellow and orange varieties.
Now, I look forward every year to going back to the Botanical Gardens and reliving that day. It’s one of the things I look forward to the most on the calendar. It takes me back to the feeling of lighter responsibility, deeper connection to the person I love the most, no deadlines to worry about, no projects to manage, no problems to solve. Just enjoyment of time and relationship.
Later in the Summer of 2020 we bought a house and got out of the camper. Our house has a few white Azalea bushes in front of that the builders planted before they put the house up for sale. Thats one of the things I love most about our house.
I walked outside today and happened to walk by them and they are beginning to bloom! I got excited and took a picture of them and ran inside to show Traci. I also noticed our Limelight Hydrangea bush is just beginning to get green leaves on it. I pruned it back for the first time since we’ve lived here over the winter. I’m excited to see how it develops this season.
Fall has always been my favorite season because of the cooler weather, football, and the beautiful colors that the trees turn. One item on my bucket list is to experience Fall in the New England region. I want to see the White Mountains, eat a warm apple cider doughnut in Stowe, Vermont, sit down at a local diner and have pancakes with local, fresh maple syrup in Bethlehem, New Hampshire…gosh, just thinking about it makes me happy.
But Spring is my second favorite season. It seems to happen suddenly. We spend – what feels like – several months with the long, cold nights of winter where everything is dead and grey. Then there comes a 60 degree day and it feels like Mother Nature just hits the accelerator. Suddenly theres the yellow plague of pollen. You come home at dark on a Friday evening, the time changes, then Monday rolls around and it’s still daylight when you get home. Before you know it, you look around and there is green EVERYWHERE. LIFE! Bees are buzzing, birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and everything just…feels…good.
But even in that sudden change, there are nuances that signal even smaller, more intricate changes. For example, the azaleas. They’re one of the first things to bloom. They are the main thing that tells me that spring has arrived. Well, that and the pollen…the annoying, sticky, incessant pollen that refuses to let you have a clean vehicle for more than 2 hours.
The azaleas arrive early and usually last into May.
The next things that I notice that bloom out are the Hydrangeas. I think every one of my family members had a hydrangea bush in their yard when I was growing up. They were all blue. When we lived in Montgomery for a few years, I learned about the green Limelight Hydrangeas. While the classic blue “French Hydrangeas” and very nostalgic to me, I much prefer the green limelight variety. These usually bloom in May and last into the early Fall. This was our hydrangea bush last July.
Then finally the Crepe Myrtles come around in June or July. While I do love to look at Crepe Myrtles, I will NEVER have another one in my yard I don’t think. They are very invasive and their roots run shallow and spread out very far. They can ruin a yard or even a foundation or crawl space if they’re too close to a house.
I didn’t mean for this to turn into a horticulture seminar, lol – but the more I pay attention to it, the more I realize there’s a lesson in all of it.
Everything has its season.
The azaleas don’t try to bloom in July.
The hydrangeas don’t rush to show up in March.
The crepe myrtles don’t worry about what the azaleas are doing.
They each come alive exactly when they’re supposed to. And when they do, they don’t hold anything back.
They bloom fully.
Boldly.
Without comparison.
Life isn’t much different. There are seasons where things feel light and simple, like that Spring in 2020. There are seasons of growth where things are starting to take shape, but you’re not quite where you want to be yet. And there are seasons where it feels like nothing is happening at all. Trust me. I’m in that season myself right now.
But just because you don’t see anything on the surface doesn’t mean something isn’t developing underneath.
Not every season is meant for blooming.
Some are meant for rooting.
Some are meant for pruning.
Some are meant for waiting.
The problem is we tend to compare our timeline to everyone else’s. We see someone else in full bloom and wonder why we’re not there yet. But you’re not supposed to bloom in their season.
You’re supposed to bloom in yours.
And when your time comes, the best thing you can do is be ready for it.
Grow where you are. Pay attention to what’s being developed in you right now. Don’t rush what takes time.
Because when it’s your season, it will be obvious.
Just like the azaleas.
We’ll talk more soon.
~NG
Ecclesiastes 3:1 – For everything there is a season and a time for every activity under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 – Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
