PLEASE PIN THIS IMAGE: How a hibiscus plant is teaching me resilience.

Last spring, I planted a hibiscus into our new front yardgarden. I was skeptical that it would survive the first year without succumbingto a disease, as so many plants do in our area. To my pleasant surprise, it notonly survived, but also sprang up three times larger this spring.

By the number of branches and its height, it promised tobecome a beautiful display of large, red blooms, a joy to behold out of thewindow on a day too hot and humid to enjoy being outside.

Then the spring thunderstorms began.

They were practically non-existent last year, arecord-breaking year for warmth and drought. On the rare occasions a storm blewthrough, it was like a young kitten dancing across our property, playful andharmless.

In other words, I gained no experience in how a severethunderstorm might affect a large hibiscus.

This year, I did.

As the hibiscus came out of dormancy, five branches pushedout of the ground, encircling the stump that remained from when I pruned itdown last fall. The branches grew, two feet, three feet, and taller. Large,purplish leaves cloaked the branches like a gauzy royal robe. Finally, tinybuds which would eventually turn into the showy blossoms for which the hibiscusis famous began to pop up in between the leaves.

And then, the storms began, storms which are largely unknownto the native tropical land of the flower. They brought nearly hurricane-forcewinds, bending the tops of tall trees almost ninety degrees and snapping offold twigs and branches.

And – you guessed it – snapping off the branches of thehibiscus.

When I lost the first branch, I was a bit dismayed, butconvinced myself it was a fluke. The branch must have just been weak,especially since it snapped off at the base of the plant. The rest of the plantwas bound to be okay.

Another storm came. More strong winds. A second branch camedown.

I groaned. Ground my teeth. Did I have to stake the thing? I’venever read about a hibiscus bush needing to be staked. Besides, what were thechances we’d have another storm with winds that strong?

High, as it turned out. Not too many days later, a thirdbranch snapped off. I wanted to pull my hair out. I began to think that stakingit wasn’t a bad idea. But, come on, how many more storms this spring were wegoing to have with wind that strong?

At least two more, as it turned out.

When the next one came, the wind started up before the rain.I asked my son if he would go out and place the buckets of gray water, whichwere always lined up just outside the house, around the hibiscus to help holdup its remaining two branches. No sooner had I asked, than rain began fallingin thick sheets.

“Never mind,” I told my son. “Too late.”

I mean, what kind of mother would I be, asking my son to goout in weather like that?

I didn’t want to ask my husband, either, because he’dalready done so much for me during the past couple of months, on account of my injuries. Maybe these last two branches would be strong enough to withstandthe storm?

Well, one of them was. The other?

Yep. Of course.

It went the way of its three siblings.

Or so I thought.

Raising the stakes.

After losing the second to last branch, I almost gave up.What remained of the plant was bound to end up looking pathetic. And it was aperennial. We could just let the next storm take down the last branch and waituntil next year, at which time I’d already planned we would wrap chicken wirearound it. On the other hand (SIGH),I already felt like a bad Hibiscus Mommy. I needed to make up for my previousneglect. So I asked my husband to stake it.

He did.

Another gusty storm blew in.

The single branch stood strong.

Resilience isn’t about being able to pull yourself up fromyour bootstraps after being knocked down. It’s not about proving to the worldthat you can thrive all by yourself.

It’s about reaching out and grabbing hold of support whenthe storms of life are raging. Because the strongest person is the one who’snot afraid to admit they need help, not afraid to risk trusting others to giveit to them.

But wait! There’s more.

Just when I thought I’d learned a life lesson that I couldshare on this blog, something amazing happened. Something that I didn’t thinkout of the realm of possibility, but for this situation, had fallen far out ofthe realm of probability.

The last branchthat fell began to sprout leaves.

No kidding. Here’s a photo of what it looks like now, acouple of weeks after I saw the first tiny leaf sprouts:

Apparently, this branch hadn’t been fully disconnected fromthe root. It was getting enough nutrients to support new growth.

It had been “struck down, but not destroyed [2 Corinthians4:9].”

Ever been there? I have. More than once. I was hurting,devastated, in despair. I was on the ground, face down, unable to see anylight, vulnerable, afraid.

But I kept a thin tendril of faith wrapped around the Vine.I maintained connection with the Source of everything I needed not only to keepon living, but to recover, and eventually, to thrive.

This is another side to true resilience, the refusal to giveup, despite all odds. It’s the kind of refusal that says, “God, I can’t seeYou, and Your presence seems a million miles away, but I’ve got this one tinythread of faith left that tells me that I’m still attached, still connected, soI’m going to persevere until I feel Your hand grabbing mine, pulling me up fromoff the dirt.”

You might be going through something really hard right now,and thinking, “That’s not me. I can’t be like that. I know I’m doomed.”

The truth of that matter is that the very fact that you’re reading this means you ARE like that, and that you are NOT doomed.

If you are reading this, you have not given up. You stillhave faith.

You are resilient.

You will pull through.

Reach out and ask others to support you.

Hold onto what little faith you have with all of your might.

My hibiscus is proof that making the effort to do those twothings will lead you back to life.

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My single-branched hibiscus as of 7-2-25. Note that in the very front, it is also growing a brand-new branch.