Green Thumb Versus Black and Blue Thumb (standard:humor, 906 words)
Author: Godspenman	Added: Oct 17 2021	Views/Reads: 765/513	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Relationships are not built upon having the same qualities. Rather, it is appreciating our differences that pull us together and enable us to do what God wants us to do.

If you came to our parsonage, you would discover all over our property,
plants and flowers. Just don't ask me to identify what they are. I can 
tell a plant from a flower, but that's as far as it goes with me. 

That is not true with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. She gets
all the credit for all the plants and flowers on our property. She 
knows them all by name. But, of course, I'm not sure if she's making up 
those names because I couldn't tell one plant from another plant. 

Walking up to our house, you will see right next to the door a pineapple
plant. I never knew exactly what it was, but my wife kept telling me it 
was a pineapple. Then this year, the pineapple actually developed. It 
took several years for it to get to this stage. It has grown quite a 
bit during this year. Looking at it, you would think you were in 
Hawaii. 

When she first planted it she asked me, “Did you see my new plant out
front?” 

I did not, but I did not want to tell her that I did not. I try to keep
things on the even as much as possible. 

So I just said, “Yes, I saw it, and it looks wonderful.” I smiled a very
gregarious smile at her. 

I thought I was off the hook with that, but guess what? I was not off
the hook, because then she said, “What kind of a plant is it?” 

If I would've had all day and a thousand guesses, I could not have
guessed what kind of plant it was. For me, one plant is the same as 
another. It makes no difference to me. 

“For your information,” she said somewhat sarcastically, “it is a
pineapple plant.” 

I only thought they grew pineapples in Hawaii. Then, of course, there
was the proposition that she was fooling with me. Why in the world 
would anybody want to grow a pineapple plant? 

“Oh,” I said as humbly as I possibly could, “I didn't recognize it
because I've never seen a pineapple plant before.” 

Then she said, “Why don't you go out front and look at it?” 

When you're in as much trouble as I am, you do what you are invited to
do. So, I went out, and she followed me to the front to look at the 
pineapple plant. It was a very profitable session. First, she gave me a 
very detailed lecture on the pineapple plant, planting it and watering 
it through the year. Then she told me how long it takes a pineapple to 
grow to the point of harvesting. 

Then, the other night she brought in from the backyard an armful of
yellow dandelions. So, it seems that she has planted dandelions, and 
they have grown and produced these beautiful yellow flowers. 

As far as I'm concerned, a flower is a flower. But with the Gracious
Mistress of the Parsonage, every flower has its own story. 

I had the story of the pineapple plant, and now I was privileged to hear
the story of the dandelion flowers. Again, whether it's true or not is 
above my pay scale. 

I think she is the Martha Stewart of all things growing outside in our
backyard. 

Walking around our house outside, you would notice all kinds of plants
and flowers of different colors. They all look healthy and are very 
beautiful. 

I once walked around trying to identify the plants and the flowers, and
I failed miserably. Someone in our home has a green thumb, and someone 
has a black and blue thumb. No need to explain any further. 

The one secret to her plants and flowers is that she talks to them. I
didn't know plants and flowers could hear, but obviously, they do. 


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