I'd like to share this beautiful story with everyone... hope it's encouraging to some!
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THE BLESSING OF THORNS
Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a
November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a
spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a
minor
automobile accident stole her ease.
During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She
grieved
over her loss. As if that weren't enough, her husband's company
threatened a
transfer. Then her sister, whose annual holiday visit she coveted,
called
saying she could not come.
What's worse, Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her 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 aloud. For a careless
driver
whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag
that
saved her life but took that of her child?
"Good afternoon, can I help you?" The shop clerk's approach startled
her.
"I...I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra, "for Thanksgiving?"
"Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the
day
with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving Special?" asked the
shop
clerk. "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 shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for
you."
Then the door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi
Barbara...let
me get your order." She politely excused herself and walked toward a
small
workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery,
bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses.
Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped...there were no
flowers.
"Want this in a box?" asked the clerk.
Sandra watched for the customer's response. 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.
"Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uh... she just left
with
no flowers!"
"Right...I cut off the flowers. That's the Special... I call it the
Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet.
"Oh, come on, you can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that?"
exclaimed Sandra.
"Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling very much like you
feel
today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be
thankful
for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was
failing,
her
son was into drugs, and she was facing major surgery."
"That same year I had lost my husband, "continued the clerk," and 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 great a 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 good things in
life
and never thought to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but
when
bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark
times
are important. I always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took
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 the very thing 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!" shouted the clerk to 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 me
asking why she wants something that looks like that?
"No...I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago my wife and I
nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with
the
Lord's grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He
rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of
rose
stems to remind her of what she learned from "thorny" times, and 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 to Him 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
thorns
make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more
during
trouble than at any other time. Remember, 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 resentment. "I'll take those twelve
long-stemmed
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?" asked Sandra.
"Nothing." said the clerk. "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'd like to read it first."
It read: "Dear 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."
I found that v. encouraging too!