Well-Watered Wednesdays
A Miracle in the Garden: A Lesson on Being Perennial
A Miracle in the Garden: A Lesson on Being Perennial
Welcome back to Well-Watered Wednesdays!
I took a much-needed summer break from writing, but I am excited to return and continue sharing stories that help social impact leaders and organizations grow.
It only feels right that our first series back is about one thing: growth.
Over the next three weeks, I want to invite you to dive into the story of a family owned farm with 3 young girls questioning their faith that’s tied to growth.
On the rolling hills of the South, where the early morning fog settled gently across the fields and the dew rested on every leaf like a promise of renewal, there sat a small family-owned farm.
For three generations, this family had cultivated tea gardens. The farm was filled with towering tea bushes, fragrant mint, and delicate chamomile plants that had been growing long before the youngest farmer was born.
Now that same farmer had a family of his own, three daughters.
When the girls were old enough, their father led them into the garden for the very first time.
He knelt beside the tea bushes that had been producing leaves for more than thirty years. He showed them the rows of mint and chamomile, inviting them to run their fingers gently across the leaves and breathe in their sweet aroma.
He told them with great compassion in his voice, “this garden will belong to you.”
The girls smiled with excitement. They imagined themselves harvesting leaves, blending teas, and serving their community just as generations before them had done.
Each week they returned to the garden. They watched their parents and the workers harvest leaves while the plants continued to grow. Life in the garden seemed endless.
Until it didn’t.
As autumn approached, the girls noticed something changing.
The mint wasn’t as full.
The chamomile looked thinner.
Soon entire patches appeared brown and lifeless.
The youngest daughter grew worried.
“Dad,” she asked, “is the garden dying?”
Her father smiled.
He realized something important.
The girls had only just begun paying attention to the garden. Before he introduced them to it, the changing seasons had gone unnoticed. But now they were watching every leaf and bush like a hawk.
He gathered them close.
“The mint and chamomile aren’t dying,” he explained. “They’re perennial plants. Every year they enter a season of dormancy. They rest beneath the surface before returning again.”
The girls weren’t convinced.
As fall gave way to winter, the plants looked even worse.
The once vibrant leaves disappeared and the farm felt empty.
The girls became so discouraged that they stopped drinking their favorite teas altogether. If the plants were gone forever, they thought, then perhaps this flavor that had been cultivated over decades would disappear forever too.
No plants.
No tea.
No future.
Then something remarkable happened.
Winter slowly released its grip.
The snow melted.
The sun lingered a little longer each day.
Tiny green shoots began pushing through stems that had looked completely lifeless just weeks before.
Day after day, the leaves multiplied.
Within weeks, the mint returned.
The chamomile bloomed.
The garden was alive again.
The girls stood in amazement.
They had witnessed a miracle.
This is the story of perennial leadership.
Leadership is seasonal.
There are moments when we produce abundantly and moments when our energy seems to disappear beneath the surface. Seasons when ideas flow easily and seasons when we question whether we have anything left to give.
Too often, organizations mistake dormancy for decline.
But healthy leaders, like perennial plants, understand that is part of growth.
The responsibility of organizations, supervisors, and leadership coaches is to cultivate environments where people can flourish through every season of leadership and to recognize which season each leader is experiencing.
A perennial return yet an annual does not.
Annual plants complete their life cycle in one season. When winter comes, they die and never return.
Perennials, however, may disappear from sight, but beneath the soil their roots continue growing. When the conditions are right, they emerge stronger than before.
Social impact work needs perennial ones. We need leaders whose roots run deep enough to survive all of the challenges.
We need coaches and managers who know the difference between someone who is finished and someone who is simply preparing for their next season of growth.
When we understand the seasons of leadership, we stop panicking during dormancy and start preparing for renewal.
The miracle was that they were growing the entire time even when no one could see it.
Next week on Well-Watered Wednesdays...
We’ll explore why your work is bigger than your role.
Messy Roots’ certified leadership coaches are offering three free coaching sessions for leaders of color. This is a low-lift, high-impact resource designed to support leadership growth, provide valuable tools, and help reduce burnout.
