Lilies in bloom
Lilies are my most favorite flower, especially the stargazer lily. So much in fact I have several planted this season and have been awaiting their sweet fragrant blooms since early spring. The growing season is rather extensive in comparison to the length of enjoyment one receives.
We planted these in February and we just now saw our first stargazer bloom two weeks ago. Several more are beginning to show their flower pods and we are anxiously awaiting the blooms. Some varieties take 2-3 weeks to blooms. While others take months or a full year to do so.
In order to have successful growth, their bulbs must be planted deeply and soil must have the ability to drain well. Too much moisture and the bulbs will rot which will turn them into a mushy mess. Holes for lilies need to be dug approximately 4-6” deep. If they are planted too shallow, when the stems begin to grow, they’ll tip over from the weight of the plant.
Copyright Jamie Zenteno 2025
Like lilies, people come in all sorts of variations of growth patterns and seasons of growth. What comes easy for you may not come easy for me. My growing season may be extended for certain things and perhaps vice versa for you in some things.
Likewise, when we begin to grow or our circumstances force us to reach into our values – IF we are not firmly planted in the word of the Lord we will tip over. Just as lilies do, when planted too shallowly. We will be unable to stand tall until we prop ourselves up with the encouragement from the word.
The unique beauty of the flower isn’t the only thing I enjoy about them. The scent is unlike any other bloom I have smelled. It’s the perfect amount of a sweet adoring fragrance. When walking up my driveway, the traces of the scent make me smile from 10 feet away. It also powerful enough to whisper to you through the spring rain showers. These lilies only bloom once per season, so I try my best to savor the blooms for as long as I can.
Things that have the most delightful fragrances usually also take the longest to develop. The same goes for things or situations in our lives. We pray, hope, get discouraged things will never happen. Then we find the strength to continue to pray for the Lord’s will to prevail and for peace to come.
Sometimes those situations seem bleak. So bleak in fact, that the joy seems to be fleeting from your heart with the hopelessness you are seeing with your eyes. In the book of 1 Thessalonians 5:17, it simply says, “pray without ceasing.”
That is certainly easier said than done. But … when the prayers you have prayed over and over again start to be answered and it is suddenly and out of no where … that is a sweet fragrance of an answered prayer. It is unreplicated by anything this side of heaven. Unique in its blooming.
I pray that you’ll be able to find joy in the small wins as much as you do in the big wins. I also pray that you continue to pray without giving up.
Answered prayers are coming.
Like lilies, sometimes it just takes a while for answers to grow before you see the fragrant answered prayers bloom.
