Earlier this year, I bought two small creeping fig plants for the garden and, while they took a while to feel at home in their new environment, they’ve since started taking off.

There’s a basic block wall that separates my yard from the neighbors’ property, and I thought it would be nice for it to take on a delicate, green leafy look instead of the salmon-colored concrete I’ve seen my whole life.

Sure enough, judging by the progress it’s made so far, it will be lovely. I may get two more and give them some Miracle-Gro love in the hopes they catch up.

It’s funny. At first I was very impatient with them. I purchased the plant because it was touted as being a fast-growing vine, and I had visions of it covering the wall in a few months’ time. Wasn’t the case.

Over the last few months, I’ve made sure to soak the flowerbeds a few times a week, and that seems to have done the trick. One particular vine grew a foot in just under two weeks’ time. It was as though I could see it growing before my eyes; a few times I wondered if I should mark it when I went to bed, then re-mark it the next morning to see how much it grew overnight. Yep, I’m a wild one in my free time.

The creeping fig is one of those quiet things in life that has a lesson to teach if we’re open to learning. Its truth? True beauty doesn’t happen overnight, and getting there takes nurturing your inherent talents, patiently letting them evolve into their own display of magnificence.

Tonight I am thankful for the beauty of the creeping fig, its silent lessons which speak truths about so many things in life, and for its reminder to appreciate the little steps as much as the big milestones.