Sunday, June 12, 2011

365Beautiful, Day 3 ... Growth


I'll confess that I didn't actually take this photo on day 3, but I thought it was appropriate for today's entry. 

Today we had a grand opening for a new computer lab at the program site. Our kids were excited, as were their parents. In the many years the program had been at the current site, they never saw such a hooked up lab as the one we were able to open for them today. One of our older youth stopped by, as he had heard there was an event happening at the site. He had slowly started pulling away from the program once he entered high school. 

When I spotted him, I gave him an enthusiastic hello and asked what he thought of the lab. In what I sensed to be a bit of shock and remorse, he quietly said that it looked great and asked me a few questions about what, exactly, was in the lab. 

After I listed what new computers and programs we had available, I pointed over to the garden and asked if he had taken a look at what we were growing. Again, with a quiet  response, he said "Yeah, I saw that. It looks good." 

I shook my head in agreement; he looked down at the pavement and added "I never thought this place could look this good."

Then he quietly walked away. 

There was such a sense of humbleness and remorse in his statement. As if he had felt proud, yet remorseful that he had abandoned the program and it continued to grow. His realization of what great transformations could come out of a seemingly run-down little place is what struck me today. 

The photo above is that of one of our basil plants from the garden, now fully flourished and ready to feed some hungry belly. 

That beautiful bouquet of fragrant leaves began as a small little seedling, and I remember well that I noticed it starting to die, yet there is sits, glowing and blooming.  

That a person, despite past challenges, break-downs, failures or mistakes, have the ability to grow and transform is beautiful. That there is a will after trials and tribulations, to continue to grow and transform is beautiful. That there is a simple individual dedication to the betterment of something is, in fact, beautiful.

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