A number of years ago we received an Amaryllis plant for a holiday gift. It was all self-contained in a beautiful pot, and all we needed to do was to give it water regularly and then wait.

Now if you have ever seen Amaryllis flowers you know that they are gorgeous. And they're big too. They are about the size of my hand, and brilliant in color. We had never had an Amaryllis plant in our home before and this was exciting.

Finally, after several days, a little green shoot popped up from the dirt. But there was very little noticeable change for days after that. Then the little shoot began to grow, slowly, oh so slowly. It was getting taller, but at a snails pace.

"When will this thing ever flower," I wondered. The little green stem was now a little over a foot tall and that's all there was, just that stem. I wondered if it needed more water, less water; more light, less light. I just kept watching, wondering, and waiting.

Not long after, I visited a friend of mine who had also received an Amaryllis plant for a holiday gift at the same time that I did. His was in full bloom with 4 or 5 of those big gorgeous trumpet-like flowers. I couldn't help but compare my green stem with the beauty of his flowers. And I continued to wonder what was wrong with my Amaryllis. I even considered tossing it out.

But about a week or so after seeing my friend's Amaryllis plant in full bloom, something began to happen on my plant! At the top of that lonely green stem something was changing. In a matter of days a single flower was appearing. Then, days later another one appeared, and then another one, and then still another one. And they were beautiful.

Soon my Amaryllis plant was in full gorgeous bloom.

Now the point is this. We are living in a real instant culture. We are used to and we expect everything to happen right now, instantly. Perhaps the best example of how much this instant culture has affected us is someone getting impatient at a fast food restaurant! We really do expect a whole meal handed to us in 30 seconds!

We can travel across the country in a matter of hours. We can instantly text message someone or send emails, or pick up our cell phone and talk to someone half way around the world. The times we live in are very fast paced and it's easy to get impatient. This is especially true with our own personal growth.

In putting forth an effort to change or to improve, or to just grow and learn in certain areas, it's easy sometimes to wonder, "Where are my results?" You can feel like you are going nowhere, just like my Amaryllis. But the truth is that plant was working behind the scenes, in the soil, developing and getting everything ready for the payoff, those beautiful flowers.

Looking at that foot long green stem one could wonder, "What is going on here; where are the flowers?" But at one point that stem was not there at all, it was just a little green shoot sticking out of the dirt. And that's a good point to remember!

Sometimes you need to stop for a minute or two and look back to where you started out. There has been growth and progress. You are moving forward.

And try to not judge your results by looking at everyone else and the results that they are getting, like I did in looking at my friend's Amaryllis plant.

We all grow at different rates. Just keep putting forth the effort. You really are growing and you will see and reap the results.