Late Bloomers Rejoice!

It is officially spring and my bulbs have begun to break through after a long, cold winter.  They spent many months in the ground dormant and just waiting for their time to burst forth!  And when they do, they will be more beautiful than any painting in the Louve.  The process of waiting is longer than the bloom time for these little bulbs, much like those of us called “late bloomers.”

I am a late bloomer, in fact, I have always been tardy for customary events.  When most students graduate from college at 21 or 22 years of age, my graduation was at 32.  The age of the start of a career is usually in our twenties, but for me it was my forties. For most of my life I was always a decade or more “behind” the normal curve, and it was a little frustrating.  But then God reminded me of the story of Abraham and Sarah!  If there were ever two very late bloomers it was this couple who, between 90 and 100 years old became parents for the first time! 

If God came to you today, at the age of 90, would you believe him if he said I am going to make a great nation of you?  Abraham did, and it was credited to him as “righteousness.” God could have brought him out of Ur at a younger age, but he didn’t.  Why? We don’t know, but what we do know is that God’s timing is always perfect, even if it doesn’t fit our normal expectations. 

If you are like me, and think that it is too late to do something reserved for youth, like going back to school or beginning a new career, think again.  Always asking in prayer, be open to a God who does not see time as we do.  He can make more out of one minute of our entire life than we can do in years because he is God.  Before you say to yourself, “I am too old, or it is too late” be sure to confer with God first for he may not agree!  Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:26, “Jesus looked at them and said, With man this is impossible, but with god all things are possible.” And just for a little boost, here are a few people in history who “bloomed” late and left a lasting impression.

Harland David Sanders (Colonel Sanders) had no prior restaurant experience, started Kentucky Fried Chicken at 62.

Julia Childs did not learn to cook until she was 40.

Gladys Burrill ran her first marathon at age 86!

Laura Ingalls Wilder struggled with writing, got serious after she was 48 and wrote her now famous series “Little House on the Prairie” beginning age 65.

Peter Mark Roget, depressed after retiring as a doctor, began his Roget’s Thesaurus at age 61 and completed it at 73.

Anna Mary Robertson Moses (Grandma Moses) began painting at 78. Her paintings have sold for one million dollars!

In a culture that is enraptured with youth; looking young and being young, there is a counter-culture of creativity equally brilliant and beautiful in the realm of us “late bloomers.” Pray, and maybe God will have you pick up that pen or paintbrush and create something wonderful!