For the last several weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, forty gardeners have been planting 7 million tulip bulbs at Keukenhof Gardens in the village of Lisse, a short drive from Amsterdam, Netherlands. They are planting 900 varieties in all types of colors and shapes spread over 80 acres with gorgeous water features, fountains, bridges, sculptures that can be viewed by walking over 9 miles of footpaths.  

Earlier in the Spring of this year, my wife Linda and I strolled those exquisite pathways and experienced the millions of elegant tulips that were planted a year ago.  We not only admired the beauty of the blooming artistic patterns, but even more, we were in awe of the gardeners who designed the garden and then planted the generic-looking bulbs without even seeing the shape or the color of the flowers. Those few hours spent rambling the pathways of the world-famous Keukenhof, led to gratitude-filled reflections for the bulb breeders, designers and planters. 

As in all of life, a beautiful flower bulb park does not just happen. Years before, one hundred bulb growers around the world were creating, experimenting and breeding new colors and shapes of tulips. In the Spring, a year prior to blooms, the designer works on both overall garden design and individual flower bed designs for the coming year.  The designs are precisely implemented in the Fall of the year. Each bulb is planted by hand, one at a time. Every bulb planted must be exactly the right color and type of flower bulb.  Each bulb must be at a certain depth and the distance between the bulbs must be specific for the beautiful effect. For the 8 weeks the gardens are open to the public, it takes 10 months of preparation. Nothing is left to chance.  The 7 million bulbs must be in the ground before Christmas.  After a hibernation period in cold soil, the warming dirt stimulates the tulip bulbs to bloom in late Spring. 

Life is no different. Nothing can be left to chance. Linda and I are celebrating 50 years of marriage this year because we’ve repeatedly sowed positive actions and words of blessing into our relationship. Our three adult children are living fruitful lives because we raised them in an environment where the soil was cultivated, watered and fertilized regularly. Our major life work, the planting of Cape Christian over 38 years ago, is flourishing because we laid a solid foundation based on God’s call to love Him and to love people. We are living without financial stress in partial retirement because we regularly made sacrifices for decades to set aside a percentage of our income into our retirement accounts. Best of all, we have been intentional about investing into our spiritual well-being through consistent spiritual practices of prayer, reading Scripture, worship and fellowship for many decades. As a result, our daily character usually imitates doing what Jesus did. Nothing has been left to chance.

On this Thanksgiving week, give thanks for those in your life who left nothing to chance. Express gratitude for those who have modeled consistent constructive values for you to follow. Choose to be precise with what kind of “bulbs” you are planting in your soil—relationally, spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally and more. A gorgeous garden is simply a result of what you have cultivated, planted, and watered.

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