KANDI FARRIS: Make me a persistent pink petunia

It's a new year and the day I wrote this it was sunny and bright with a chill in the air. Mid-afternoon felt like spring. I am confused about the seasons, but I'm not the only one confused as we have been fluctuating between heat pump and air conditioning.

I wanted to work in the yard, but instead I reminisced about springs gone by. So here is a look at a that'll preach kind of day.

The checkout lines were long and buggies were filled with stacks of mulch, trays of bedding plants, grass seed and ant stuff. We were going green all right. The green stuff was jumping out of the wallet as fast as the cashier could tally the cost.

Nevertheless, I was on a mission to whip the yard into shape. After my run to the store, the garage became full of mulch with bedding plants resting on top of them. Too tired to put anything out in the garden, I went to play with my grandson.

Upon returning home, I opened my garage door, drove my husband's truck in and was going to wait till morning before I looked at any of the work lurking in the garage

The next morning when we got up, I heard a holler from the garage. Coop was saying something about something I did.

What in the world did I do? With my track record, there was no telling. In the dim lighting, it looked as if the tire had been flattened. Black stuff was squashed all out of the bottom of the tire. On closer inspection, we realized something was under the tire.

Coop backed the truck out. My heart sank. Almost all my trays had fallen off the mulch bags. They were smashed under a tire.

While I was tallying up the cost, the petunias seemed to be crying out to be saved. It was worth a shot. The next morning, I took the flattened flats of flowers and planted them in the backyard. It was as if these flowers were determined to live. They seemed so excited about their second chance at life. They've gone from flat to flourishing.

I was told "that'll preach." Sometimes you and I are hard-pressed. Our egos squashed. Our hearts smashed. Our dreams flattened. Maybe we caused the pressing to occur. Maybe we had no control over the squashing, but we have the opportunity to realize we are given second chances in our lives. "Breathe on us, oh breath of God."

Christ came that we might have new life and have life abundantly. We can spring back when smacked.

This 2016 I want to be a racehorse or maybe even better -- a persistent and perky petunia.

Kandi Farris, is a freelance correspondent and speaker on matters of faith and values.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "KANDI FARRIS: Make me a persistent pink petunia ."