Onion Lessons

 I know you're getting sick of hearing about the garden. But we are really having fun with it this year since we actually have one and not just a few random plants scattered here or there.

One of the things I've got out there that I don't mention often is this little guy.

It is a red onion. I planted several yellow onions this year and two red. This one is the only one left -- the only one who made it.

He lived through the storm that killed off most of the plants in the garden then forcing us to replant things and, consequently, making everything later. But he survived.

The weeds have made a few attempts on his life. And he tends to blend in with them so I've accidentally made one or two myself. 

I can't tell you how many times he has been stepped on or even had something sat on top of him. Once I even broke off one of the 'leaves' he had growing. That's actually the reason for the little brick piece. I was trying to make it easier to see him. Also the reason he was one of the first to get one of my new reusable tags.

Still, there he sits with four 'leaves' now rather than the two he started with, hanging in there. 

And, at some point, later on, his stalk will turn brown and fall over. Then I will dig up all the onions he has hopefully been making in this time.

There have been lots of times in my life when I have felt like this onion but I'm not sure I handled with quite as much dignity. I have felt abandoned by my friends. I have felt attacked. I have felt stepped on and picked on. I have felt overwhelmed by a situation. I've even felt broken. 

I've survived it but not without some fit throwing or feeling sorry for myself. I need to learn to be like an onion though. Dust myself off. Stand back up. Stay firm.

Just like this little onion, hopefully, I will be producing a harvest. God is working in me to make something special. 

Even if sometimes it just looks like I'm getting beaten up and staying there for no reason, what's really happening is not something we necessarily can see.

And, at the right time, there will be a harvest. We'll find out exactly what was happening all that time. And we might be surprised at just how much growing was going on.