---Wisdom / Virtue
--Bearing Fruit In Old Age ~~

--"They shall still bear fruit in old age" ~~ [PSALM 92:14 / NKJV] --

---I was feeling old and worthless when my granddaughter Hanna called with a request.

"Grandpa, I wonder if you could grow some zinnias for my upcoming wedding reception. They are my favorite flower, and no one can grow things like you can."

I went right to work, planting large zinnias everywhere: around the foundation of the house, in raised beds, even in plastic pots. Enough I figured, to produce about five hundred blooms.

They were growing well when a fungus turned some of them gray, and I had to cull those out. Then came the Japanese beetles, who turned the leaves into lace doilies. The final insult was a storm that blew the tall plants to the ground. It took me a day to stake them back upright.

As the reception drew near, I counted only about a hundred and fifty blooms left.

Then I fell ill, with a vicious case of vertigo, and I spent the day of the reception in bed. My daughter Natalie, picked up the zinnias and took them to the reception.

As I lay in bed, my head spinning, I felt as if I had failed my granddaughter. Zinnias are the easiest flowers in the world to grow, but somehow I failed.

The next day, however, Hannah called to say, " The flowers were perfect, Grandpa, just enough for the small reception area. Everyone raved about the large, bright. blooms, and some of the guests took flowers home with them. I'm sending you some pictures." She sounded very happy.

I have decided that I am not always the best judge of my worth. I have a tendency to be too hard on myself. Sometimes I just need someone to call me and say "Grandpa, we still need you." .~~

--Guideposts/DS~