Commentary by Heather Kestian
A couple of weeks ago, while I was cleaning out my flower beds, I found a small pine tree growing in my flower bed. My immediate thought was “this has to be a joke.” Then I remembered how this little tree grew in the most impossible of places – my lack of faith in what was possible.
Last fall, my oldest son found a pine cone under our very large pine tree in our back yard. As we were completing fall cleaning, he asked to plant the pine cone. I told him that I did not think it was going to grow in his chosen flower bed. This flower bed is in the northwest corner of the house where there is very little sunlight. His chosen location is fairly close to the house, so it does not get a lot of rain. I assured him it was not going to grow. He pled with me and said, “Have faith, Mama. It will grow.”
All right kid, whatever.
As a mother of the “Does it Matter” parenting technique (patent, copyright, and trademark pending), I decided that this was not worth any more of a discussion. After all, this pine tree is not growing anyway. As such, whether he planted the pine cone did not matter. See how this parenting technique works? Truly brilliant.
Fast forward to June 2013, and now, as I clear away a winter’s worth of dead leaves and spring’s overgrowth, I find this tiny pine tree in my garden bed.
If only I had a little faith. I look up to the sky and think if I could see God right now, I am positive he is pointing and laughing at me. He must be thinking, “I showed you!” I also imagine he was laughing so hard, he was crying.
My lesson in all of this is that I need to have more faith in the impossible and support the improbable for my children. My dear son told me at the outset what I have constantly told him “have faith.” But here, I thought more of the impossible than I thought of what was possible.
On some occasions, it appears that my children are here to teach me more than I am here to teach them. I am finding it easier to believe in what is improbable, as anything can happen.