Hey, it really takes so very little.....

This  may well be the shortest blog post you will ever see me write :)  But I can cross yet another thing off of the "Miller Bucket List"..."to make a difference in my new community of Valley Center."  I knew that I couldn't reach the entire town of 6,000 + people.  But I could reach my back alley neighbor, Jean.  She's the one who pointed out to me a neglected flower bed in our alley way that was in desperate need of attention. In her 80's, she wasn't able to get out and pull the weeds away on her own.  So, I decided to take it over for her and I planted my favorite flower of all time~zinnias. For reasons that I will tell you about at another time, I have surely  been praying to see their "little shining faces" before this week is through.  God heard my prayers because when I went out to water everything this evening, here's what I saw.....

I told you guys that my "sixth sense" was telling me that the first flower to bloom would be purple.  Now lest you think that I ONLY planted purple flower seed, please don't.  The alleyway zinnias are from a mixed variety.  As time goes on this summer, everyone will see reds, pinks, whites, yellows, oranges, and even greens.  Don't ask me why, but there has never been a year that I planted zinnias, and believe me there have been many, that the very first flower out wasn't always purple.  There's a flower bed in front of my house filled with zinnias, growing strong and tall.  By next week or the week after, that flower bed will be filled with a colorful palette of the most gorgeous zinnias ever. And tonight I am so very happy to have my prayer answered.  To Jean, my back alley neighbor, "thank you for showing me how to make a difference.  And the most beautiful thing about it all, is that you didn't even know you were doing it."

It started out like this.....about 8 weeks ago... All that was needed was some "sweat equity" and $12.00 worth of seed.  It took very little to make a difference.  For all of the times I have wasted in this life, thinking that one person could do nothing alone, I give thanks for the chance to do something all by myself.  I hope for the opportunity to do many more things to make a real difference in this life....I pray my eyes are always open to see them.  Sometimes the things that need your attention, the places where a difference can be made, are found in the most "lowly" of places just like the alleyway.  Good Night my friends!

A new variety of zinnias (at home, growing up, we always called them ZEE NEES) from the flower garden of 2009.  These are called Oklahoma zinnias...don't ask me why.  No matter what state is in front of their name, I don't think you could wrong with loving a zinnia garden.  There's just something about them~