Completely Out of Hand

Have you ever had something get completely out of hand?

This would be my butterfly bush.    Several months ago, I planted this foot high butterfly bush in what I thought would be the perfect location in my back yard.   A sunny spot.    Close enough to the house to enjoy.   Ideal.

There's just one detail.

I failed to read the little tag that was conspicuously attached to it.   The one that said it grows 12' high and gets to be about 5' wide.   Yeah.    I didn't read that part.    Details.

So my little butterfly bush has grown quite a bit.   In fact, it now dwarfs my favorite part of the backyard.....my bottle tree.    Can you see the bottles behind all the limbs?    Yeah.   That would be my once "garden centerpiece."    Now dominated by the butterfly bush.

I considered trimming it back before our backyard wedding reception in 16 days.    I've threatened to do that for weeks.......but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it.   This has caused me to delay.

It's beautiful, isn't it?      My butterfly bush is absolutely covered in these purple blooms right now.

And I noticed something else about my butterfly bush.     That bush is being USED.

Used by butterflies.
Used by bumble bees.
Used by granddaddy long legs.
Used by hummingbirds.
Used by assorted bugs & critters.

Over the last few weeks, I've seen all of those things USING the butterfly bush.   Here's a few shots I captured this afternoon while watching just 10 minutes with my camera.

The more I watched my butterfly bush, the more struck I became with how many "different" ways it was being USED.

And, I'm sorry.   I'm a simple woman.   What can I say?    This butterfly bush made me think about my own life.      God is using the heck out of this butterfly bush to care for and provide food and shelter for His bugs & critters.  How USEFUL is He finding me?

Good question.

I'm thinking about that.

And in the meantime, I spotted one more critter enjoying the bush.

My 14 year old cat, Jasper.    He enjoys a snooze there in the shade of it's limbs many afternoons a week.  Another use!   Shade.    Yeah.  I'll wait another week or two to trim it back.     Until then, it'll continue to be completely out of hand.......and incredibly USEFUL.

I like that.