Ornamental Dandelions

I don't know if this phrase is new or just new to me, but it popped fully formed into my head one day when I saw a lovely little yard, nicely mowed (mown?), with a lone dandelion at the base of a wooden fencepost - tall and waving its sunshine head in the breeze, much as if it had been purposely planted there.

Normally one sees tulips or other such "proper" flowers arranged this way, and I wondered if it had been missed by the mower or if someone had seen beauty and asymmetry in the weed and left it as a paean to the overlooked wonder & grace of common objects that we take for granted.

Anyway, somethimes I feel like that dandelion - terribly common and not very exceptional - and I was reminded that I was created and am seen by a Father who knows my unique beauties and flaws, even in the midst of a sea of dandelions, and I am never overlooked, even when I feel mown down. (Genesis 16 tells the story of Hagar's banishment because of Sarah's jealousy, and as she has given up hope for her life and her son's, Jehovah comes to her with water and a promise. She declares that "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me" and calls that desert place Beer-lahai-roi, "The well of the Living One who sees me.")

My little corner of the world is full of blessings & beauty that remind me of the care of the Living One, if I have the eyes and mind to see them.