The Ant and the Peony

We're working on/in our yard this weekend, picking up dropped branches, mowing, weeding, sweeping walkways, and of course, planting flowers. However, it is in closely checking out what is happening on the peony plant that has me thinking this year. The peony is one of my favorite blossoms...it is a showy, pastel flower with whispers of pink, cream and white. The scent is heavenly. The bud is a tightly packed orb before the ants chew away at it, freeing the petals into a heady flower. No ants = no flower opening.

And so it is with life. I feel like that little ant. I have a job to do, (a life to lead) but I can't say it is an easy one completed with no effort. I can't see what may be revealed. This is where faith comes in. And trust. And hope. And love. That is when there is that heady sweet scent, that multi-layered beauty as the blossom unfolds and true beauty is released. Worth the chewing...and the wait.