June 2009
Today a weed, tomorrow a hybrid
By Riney Jordan

It was a perfect spring day. The wildflowers were at their peak, as bluebonnets, wine cups, and a host of unidentified flora swayed back and forth across a field of more green than you would find on St. Patrick’s Day. It was captivating. It was euphoric. It was better than any tranquilizer on the market. And then, amongst all of this natural beauty, I spied a plant that towered above the rest. Its leaves were spiked from one end to the other. Sharp nettles protruded from every stem. Its leaves weren’t green, but gray.

“Yuck,” I said, almost instinctively. “Wish I had my garden hoe with me. I’d chop that prickly thing down in a minute.”

“Really now,” responded the gentleman walking alongside me. “You might want to find out a bit more about that ‘ugly duckling’ before you chop her down. If you look long enough and hard enough, you might discover there’s beauty there that’s waiting to bloom.”

“OK,” I said. “I’ll give it a chance.”

So, several weeks later, I once again was strolling through this wildflower haven when something across the way caught my eye. There, in the middle of this field of withering bluebonnets, grew a plant covered in the most-delicate white flowers I had ever seen. Butterflies danced from flower to flower on the spiked plant. Words could not begin to describe the almost transparent petals that surrounded a soft, yellow center. Yes, it was breathtaking. I later learned that this plant is a white prickly poppy. In addition to the beautiful flowers it produces, its seeds are an excellent source of food for many varieties
of birds.

And then I remembered my friend’s words: “If you look long enough and hard enough, you might discover there’s beauty there that’s waiting to bloom.”

As I stood there looking at this plant that I almost had discarded, I couldn’t help but think of how often kids get the same “quick to judge” treatment. They don’t look or dress like the “pretty” kids, so they’re written off pretty quickly. “That one’s got to be a weed,” we assume.

For whatever reason, they’re not able to achieve academically as well as some of the others. “Ought to put that one in a special class,” someone quickly suggests.

They tend to look for attention in all the wrong ways. “No good can come from that one,” another mutters.

But then we remember that every kid has a gift that is waiting to be discovered, not discarded; encouraged, not eliminated; developed, not destroyed. Like the prickly plant that stands back and waits to bloom, all children have the potential to blossom one day, and often they do with only a small amount of encouragement.

There are so many stories about children who achieved success despite overwhelming obstacles. Have you ever heard the story of the young boy who loved to write — even though he only attended four years of school and found himself, at a young age, living on the streets, sleeping in abandoned buildings?

It only took one acceptance letter from a publisher — one word of encouragement — for this young boy to grow up to become a literary legend. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? His name is Charles Dickens.

Do you have such a gifted student in your life? A single word of encouragement might be all it takes for that child to blossom into a hybrid. Remember: If you look long enough and hard enough, you might discover there’s beauty there that’s waiting to bloom.