Green

See that plant in the corner? The tall one? There's a long story behind that plant. Last June, on the way home from Idaho with the boys, we bought it as a thank you gift for the dear lady (a parishioner of Fr. P's mission church) who opened her home to us when our car broke down in Boise. But, for some reason (I can't for the life of me remember why!), we didn't end up giving it to her, so it rode along, the whole long way home, stuffed in our sedan with me and Dan, two hulking teenagers and all their stuff, plus two kittens in a too-large cat-carrier.

You might have already guessed that my poor plant arrived in Iowa a mite worse for wear. Bedraggled understates it. So, up it went, to the "intensive care" spot for plants next to the kitchen sink at the big house, where I could nurse it back to health. Which I was able to do. By the end of the summer it looked great! Like an actual small tree, with several tall stems and lush foliage.

Then I went to Germany. And Dan and Dominic and the gang started the big renovation on the homestead, taking out many of the main floor interior walls and raising the ceiling to its original height -- all of which is almost finished now and is awesome! I love it! In the process, though, I understand -- and the details are vague -- but, in the course of construction... Well, I guess basically -- the kitchen ceiling fell down on this plant.

By the time I got home from Europe, it was down to two or three pitiful leaves and was hanging on by a thread. So, I brought it over to the tiny home (the RV we're living in until we get our barndo built) -- and put it in intensive care again on the RV kitchen sink. And, check it out! It's coming back! Its about to grow out of this spot!

Here's the thing, though, the reason to tell this story. (Oh, the irony.) You know what this plant is called? It's a MONEY TREE! And its adventures are pretty much an analogy of our finances.

Here's how it goes: Start building up the account: car dies. Get a windfall: the refrigerator breaks down. Get a raise: a kid needs braces. Or we have to fund a trip somewhere for some reason for somebody. Or throw a big party. (Two of our daughter-Sisters' vows, for instance, are coming up in Easter week!) Or... Christmas...

So... Easy come. Easy go. Thank-you, God, that we've always somehow had enough tree that we could lose some leaves and even, occasionally, whole branches without killing it entirely... Thanks to Dan's intensive care finance skills, hard work, and scrimping, we've always been able to nurse the bank account back to health again!

Back to my plant, though. See the shiny leaves on those new shoots? It's so satisfying, seeing it come back to life! I'm enjoying it while I can. Same with my stubby aloe vera there, whose life's work is sacrificing its fronds for clumsy people burning themselves on pots... Finances/Fronds -- it's all the same, and one thing's for sure: there's bound to be another incident. Now that we're in the green again, it's bound to happen. Such is life. We're not holding our breath. Not worrying. Money doesn't grow on trees, but with proper care, it can "grow back" after a pruning.