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I remember about 2 years ago around early April, while exiting my apartment to do my daily exercise, I noticed on the opposite apartment 2nd floor a beautiful, red cactus flower. Some short time later, I ran into a Chinese lady who I met by chance I told her, “The cactus flower growing from the balcony is beautiful.” After hearing this, she said “I will give a leaf, good luck growing it.” Afterwards she went upstairs and cut out a leaf for us to grow.
My wife divided the cactus leaf into 4 pieces and put them in a flower pot. I watered it once a week, and once a month gave plant food mixed with water.
A short time later, the strength of the cactus’s life was clearly shown. The leaf (which was cut in 4 pieces,) steadily grew root and took hold. Some short time later, the cactus started to bud out new leafs! Watching the cactus grow reminded me of Jesus teaching his disciples the story of the “Mustard Seed”.
Without knowing, the cactus started to grow like wildfire and was growing ever so much. The cactus’s leaf is about 2/3 of my hand size. From that leaf grew another leaf, and to this day. Last summer the cactus was now too large for the previous pot and was repotted to a larger pot. The leaves continued to grow and started to grow downwards into the first floor. The leaf’s length is now 70 centimeters.
Seeing that I did not want to disturb the neighbors, I took an 18inch tall pot holder and placed the cactus there. While writing this, I look out to the balcony; the newly growing 8 or so cactus leaf is now going towards the balcony. How it that the 4 small leafs was had turned into about 30 plus strongly growing leafs? There isn’t much to say about that. All I did was give water weekly, and putting more soil once the soil level was going down. I believe the one who made it grow was God.
Nowadays I see the strongly growing cactus and seeing other new leafs sprouting, I can imagine and see the red flowers blossoming everywhere and is looking forward for it. Some say, believing is like “Seeing a lark’s egg, one can imagine and hear the song of that said lark.” More accurately, I can see from the cactus leafs, there are what looks like blossoming buds on leafs where the flowers will bloom. I think my belief of the flower is not of false but the truth. Given some time, it will blossom into reality. I will leave a picture to commemorate it.
When I look at the house in front of us, I see a cacti seedling. It is still in the small plant as it was when I saw it the first time. The leaf’s color is dead-looking and yellow. 2 years had gone, yet they are not growing. I do not know the exact reasons. Small pot, lack or nutrients, or seeing the house light off many nights, busy outside? Or lack of water? Many reasons there.
Nowadays, we have an issue with the cactus. Because the leaflets are growing endlessly, we needed a way to deal with the issue. When I measured the healthiest plant, it is little over a 1 meter in length!
My wife suggested, like how we received the cactus in the first place, we would give out some of the leaflets to neighbors. Jesus said “Since we freely received, we should freely give,” and “the one who gives is more blessed than those receiving.” I believe that by doing this, we will be able to share our enjoyment of watching the cactus grow beautifully.
I give sincere thanks to the person who gave us the cactus 2 years ago. After spending 2 years in watering and watching it grow, it gave me the feeling of how the Kingdom of Heaven would grow like thusly and giving me the motivation and pietistic feelings.
(March 6th, 2017)
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Wonderous New Records 
Overgrown Cactus Flower