“You Just Wait ‘Til The Little Blue Daisies Bloom”

“You Just Wait ‘Til The Little Blue Daisies Bloom
The View From Granny’s Back Porch
Written by Joy Mathis Chadwick

Today is the day! Today is the day that it FEELS like spring!! I’m so happy as I look out my back porch and see the abundance of God’s glory manifested through pretty little blooms every direction I look! I’ve babied a bed of jonquils in my front yard for the last two years, and this year they have outdone themselves! The little pond frogs are singing their hearts out – this is the sweetest music ever! I love how nature worships our Creator! I know I’ve said in this column before that fall is my most favorite time of the year, but now that it’s finally here, I declare spring as my favorite – for now. (I reserve the right to change my mind about that the minute we get our first tornado warning. That is “business as usual” here in the south. If our storm cellar just had a bathroom and refrigerator, I’d probably spend the next couple of months camped out there.)

I took a short walk this afternoon and the official announcement of spring was literally just beneath my feet. It was a patch of the little blue daisies. No, they aren’t daisies, and no, they aren’t blue; they are, however, so little that you have to look closely to see them. These are probably my favorite blooms because they tug at my heart. When I was a little girl, my precious momma used to tell me that I couldn’t go barefoot “til the little blue daisies bloom”. She would then tell me that it was because that’s what her momma used to tell her. I’m sure I told my boys the same thing when they were little. The little blue daisies signaled that the weather was finally warm enough for them to sprout their tiny heads to see if the children were wearing shoes.

In 2002 my dad passed away suddenly and we brought my momma to our home to live. By this time her Alzheimer’s had advanced drastically and it fell on me as their only child to go through everything and sell their house in town. I’m glad, actually, that she was spared having to do this; I’m also selfishly glad that I didn’t have to share that experience with anyone else, because what started out as something that I thought would be heartbreaking turned into a memory that I will always cherish.

My dad had been known to hide away large sums of cash in the strangest of places, so I had to look in every nook and cranny in their house “just in case”. (Nope, didn’t find a dime.) But I did find a treasure chest (shoe box) worth more than money could buy. My mom had a collection of sticky notes, that I can only guess she used as reminders when she first started having memory problems. Some of the notes were reminders for birthdays or appointments or when to pay bills or what to pick up at WalMart. I laughed as I came across sticky notes with the count and the amount from the daily Dialing For Dollars segment on our local daily news. But this one! Oh my heart!! She had left a sticky about the little blue daisies (“dasies”), along with what used to be an actual little blue daisy. This was worth more than gold to me!

We took a little road trip into the next county today just to get out and see something different than our little corner of the world. I noticed early into our journey that the highway department has added an abundance of road signs in the last few months. There was no question whatsoever what was to be expected – curves, hills, children at play, and the list goes on and on. There was no reason that we hadn’t been properly forewarned about any upcoming potential hazards.

So the little blue daisies, along with all the many road signs, gave me enough signals to swell my heart with happy memories and to also be very careful about the potential dangers along the road we were traveling. All I had to do was look for the signs. The information wouldn’t do me any good whatsoever unless I was paying attention.

God not only gives us signs through little blue daisies for barefoot season, but he has given us other signs to watch for as well. “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh.” The whole 24th chapter of the book of Matthew details a big list of signs that we are to watch for that signal the coming of the Lord. When I was younger, this just was not a favorite passage of mine because it seemed a little scary, but now at this age, I get excited thinking that THIS might be THE DAY!! Just watch a little bit of the morning news, if you dare; the time seems right! (Excuse me again, but I have to tell you this: Another favorite memory of my momma was when we would spend what seemed like hours on our backs in the front yard looking at cloud shapes. She would always tell me, “This just might be the very cloud that Jesus comes back on!” Oh that every child had a momma who instilled the love of Jesus in a child like mine did. She didn’t just believe it – she lived it.)

So the next time you spot one of those little blue daisies, look up in the spring sky and think about those big white fluffy clouds. Could Jesus be getting ready to step out on that very cloud on this very day?? We have the signs; we just need to make sure we’re ready. It’s been said that “we can’t take it with us when we’re gone”, but actually there is one thing we CAN take. We can take our family and friends IF they are a barefooted child of God. (No, you don’t have to be barefoot to go to Heaven, but it couldn’t hurt!) I’d love for you to come with me!! It just might be today!!