Several weeks ago, one of our long-standing and very kind donors blessed the offices on campus with beautiful orchids – all in perfect health, lush and
draping with purple flowers. Almost two months later, they’re still absolutely stunning.
Except, of course, for the one in my
office.
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I don’t know why. My co-worker, Joy, and I
have done everything the All About Orchids website said to do – put three ice
cubes on it every Monday and leave it alone. We followed these directions to the letter. Where is there room to go
wrong??
I have brief moments of guilt as I’m
watching our orchid slowly pass away. Every day at least two withered blooms
give up their struggle for survival and release their hold on life. I wonder if the day I gently talked to the
plant with an Altoid in my mouth was the beginning of the end. Were those
curiously strong little mints too overpowering for the delicate blooms? Is the
temperature of the office too hot or too cold? Are we picking the wrong ice
cubes out of the tray? I don’t think I’ll ever know.
What I do know is that there are two
categories of plant people – people who research plant care, do everything
humanly possible to maintain plant life, yet still manage to kill all things
green and leafy, and those people who simply sprinkle a little water on the
dirt and somehow grow a towering magic beanstalk that will not die until
someone goes at it with an axe.
I am in the first category. So, apparently,
is Joy. Leslie Leith, the Horticulture
Instructor for Shepherds College, is definitely in the second category.
Mrs. Leith is a blessing to all living
things – plants, vegetables and students. They thrive under her care. Not only does she have the impressive
qualifications, expertise and experience necessary to motivate growth among the
creatures in the flora kingdom, but she also has the perfect combination of kindness,
passion and warmth to inspire confidence and creativity in every student in her
classroom.
One of the first things a person notices
about Mrs. Leith is her serenity. It’s as much a part of her physical being as
her arms and legs. It’s evident in her soft smile, the gentle lines of her face
and the glow of contentment in her eyes. She has that rare and true beauty that
comes from finding peace in God and joy in His creation.
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| Mrs. Leith |
Mrs. Leith’s students learn, not just
because of her vast knowledge of Horticulture, but because her serenity
translates to a calm demeanor that helps each person to relax and focus on the
subject at hand. The smooth cadence of her voice is easy to listen to, adding
to a learning environment that seems almost therapeutic in nature.
Her serenity makes a powerful first
impression, but a person has only to spend a few minutes talking to Mrs. Leith
to realize that she also has a depth of love and passion for using her skills
to educate, inspire and serve people with intellectual disabilities. Creative ideas pour out of her for lesson
plans, crafts, recipes and community projects that fill listeners with
enthusiasm for whatever it is she’s talking about. You can only imagine, after chatting
with her briefly and being impacted by her zeal, how big of an influence she
must have with the students she works with every day.
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| Brian and Mrs. Leith |
I have no doubt that Mrs. Leith’s serenity,
her passion and her creativity are, and will be, dynamic forces in her students’
success. Her classroom is the perfect
environment – a place where creativity and God’s creation come together to
provide a healing, thriving, encouraging, loving atmosphere in which plants,
and students, can fully bloom.
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