Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes when
she pulled open the
florist shop door, against a November gust of wind.
Her life had been as
sweet as a spring breeze and then, in the fourth
month of her second
pregnancy, a "minor" automobile accident stole her
joy. This was
Thanksgiving week and the time she should have
delivered their infant
son. She grieved over their loss.
Troubles had multiplied.
Her husband's company "threatened" to transfer his
job to a new
location. Her sister had called to say that she
could not come for her
long awaited holiday visit. What's worse, Sandra's
friend suggested that
Sandra's grief was a God-given path to maturity that
would allow her to
empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea
what I'm feeling,"
thought Sandra with a shudder. "Thanksgiving ?
Thankful for what?" she
wondered. "For a careless driver whose truck was
hardly scratched when
he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her
life, but took her
child's?"
"Good afternoon, can I help you?"
Sandra was startled by the approach of the shop
clerk. "I . . . I need
an arrangement," stammered Sandra.
"For Thanksgiving? I'm convinced that flowers tell
stories," she
continued. "Are you looking for something that
conveys 'gratitude' this
Thanksgiving?"
"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five
months, everything
that could go wrong has gone wrong."
Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised
when the clerk said, "I
have the perfect arrangement for you."
Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk
greeted the new customer,
"Hi, Barbara, let me get your order." She excused
herself and walked
back to a small workroom, then quickly reappeared,
carrying an
arrangement of greenery, bows, and what appeared to
be long-stemmed
thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were
neatly snipped:
there were no flowers.
"Do you want these in a box?" asked the clerk.
Sandra watched - was this
a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers!
She waited for
laughter, but neither woman laughed.
"Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative
smile. "You'd think
after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't
be so moved by its
significance, but I can feel it right here, all over
again," she said,
as she gently tapped her chest.
Sandra stammered, "Ah, that lady just left with . ..
. uh . . . she left
with no flowers!"
"That's right," said the clerk. "I cut off the
flowers. That's the
'Special'. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns
Bouquet. Barbara came into
the shop three years ago, feeling much as you do
today," explained the
clerk. "She thought she had very little to be
thankful for. She had just
lost her father to cancer; the family business was
failing; her son had
gotten into drugs; and she was facing major surgery.
That same year I
had lost my husband," continued the clerk. "For the
first time in my
life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no
children, no husband,
no family nearby, and too much debt to allow any
travel."
"So what did you do?" asked Sandra.
"I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the
clerk quietly. "I've
always thanked God for the good things in my life
and I never questioned
Him why those good things happened to me, but when
the bad stuff hit, I
cried out, 'Why? Why me?!' It took time for me to
learn that the dark
times are important to our faith! I have always
enjoyed the 'flowers' of
my life, but it took the thorns to show me the
beauty of God's comfort!
You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when
we're afflicted, and
from His consolation we learn to comfort others."
Sandra sucked in her breath, as she thought about
what her friend had
tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't
want comfort. I've lost
a baby and I'm angry with God."
Just then someone else walked in the shop.
"Hey, Phil!" the clerk greeted the balding, rotund
man.
"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving
arrangement .. . .
twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as
the clerk handed him
a tissue wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.
"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra
incredulously. "Do you mind
telling me why she wants a bouquet that looks like
that?"
"Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced,"
Phil replied. "After
forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the
Lord's grace and
guidance, we trudged through problem after problem,
the Lord rescued our
marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a
vase of rose stems
to remind her of what she had learned from "thorny"
times. That was good
enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My
wife and I decided to
label each one for a specific "problem" and give
thanks for what that
problem taught us."
As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly
recommend the
Special!"
"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in
my life" Sandra
said to the clerk. "It's all too . . . fresh."
"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience
has shown me that
the thorns make the roses more precious. We treasure
God's providential
care more during trouble than at any other time.
Remember that it was a
crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His
love. Don't resent
the thorns."
Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first
time since the
accident, she loosened her grip on her resentment.
"I'll take those twelve long-ste mmed thorns,
please," she managed to
choke out.
"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll
have them ready in a
minute."
"Thank you. What do I owe you?"
"Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal
your heart. The
first year's arrangement is always on me."
The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll
attach this card to
your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read
it first."
It read:
"My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I
have thanked You a
thousand times for my roses, but never once for my
thorns. Teach me the
glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my
thorns. Show me that
I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain.
Show me that,
through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look
much more brilliant."
Praise Him for the roses; thank Him for the thorns.
God Bless all of you. Be thankful for all that the
Lord does for you.
"Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak
kindly, and leave the
rest to God."[/align]
This was forwarded by a friend of mine.. Strut..who has had is fair share of thorns..That brother needs our daily prayer .
Thanks Phil for replying.
C7
Bless Strut's heart, he is truly an amazing person. I know he doesn't feel as strong as we see Him but the Lord will always give Him strength for each day and I love that he accepts the strength God provides. Shirley is also very amazing, a brave woman. My heart goes out to them and Thank You for being such a good friend and brother in Christ to them, God knew what He was doing to make your paths cross. Cherish that all the days of your life and you will have lived a Spiritually rich life. God Bless you Chuck.
We'll see if you still think that when I have flunked your quiz
Because of your reply I talkedto Strut on the phone last night...Hey,,if I never taught the kids about Thanksgiving they woldn't have scored very well either..Itry to make the most of our holidays ..sharing our Lord as much as possible. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
C7
Chuck, a beautiful and heart warming story..it seems that after typing two or thrre words i have to stop and wipe away the tears..God Bless you and yours this holiday season..
__________________
wayne
"There's room at the cross for you."
Thanking God ...for the thorns in your life.
