Three weeks ago today, I clipped a sprig of Dusty Miller from my front flower bed. I was inspired by a photograph I saw in the winter issue of Life Beautiful magazine. It is a spritual, inspirational magazine. Even if the content doesn’t interest you, the photography will.
What a simple, rather non-descript plant this is, but what a work-horse in the garden. It doesn’t scream, “aren’t I lovely” when you walk by like my roses or hydrangeas do. But, rather says I am the filler, the base to your centerpiece. In fact they say you should have three things in your flower pot during the growing season — a filler, a spiller and a thriller. Dusty is a filler.
Despite the 17 degree weather we’ve been experiencing it is still growing strong in my garden. Even after three weeks in a bud vase on my end table, it still looks as fresh as it did the day I picked it. It cost me nothing, and yet three weeks later it is still smiling up at me from my $4 vase I picked up in Frederickburg recently.
It is just one of the simple gifts that God gives me everyday, if I just stop long enough to enjoy it. God is my filler, my work horse, my centerpiece. If I let Him, he will make all my days easier and lovely. I just have to choose to get out of His way.
It reminds me of the old Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts” by Joseph Elder (made popular by Aaron Copland)
‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain’d,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.
Hospitality is in my DNA. I founded Home with a Twist, a daughter’s twist on her mother’s traditions, in memory of my mother to celebrate her life and the gifts she shared with me. Mother loved to celebrate life’s occasions – big and small.
