Magnolias are my nemesis.

They are such a symbol of the South, and they are beautiful (and as my husband points out, an excellent shade tree). However, their late-spring blooms and accompanying pollen get me every year, and I’ve spent the past two weeks being grumpy about it.

On the Myers-Briggs Personality Profile, I always test as an INFP—an Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving type. My profile told me many things, including, “You should be a writer” (yay!) and “You see symbolism everywhere” (yep).

And because I see symbolism everywhere, it nettles me to be allergic to a flower that represents my home.

Of course, there’s symbolism in that as well, because my home is not a permanent one.

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

-Hebrews 11:13-16 (NASB)

The night before he was crucified, Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us (John 14:2). We often recall His words during tragic or harrowing circumstances, referring to Heaven as “a better place,” but little annoyances like allergies are gifts when they serve as quiet reminders not to get too attached to this world. I love living in the South, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t desire a better country…

One with big, beautiful, pollen-free magnolias sounds heavenly, in fact. 🙂