Sandra felt as low as the heels of her sandalswhen 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.
THEN! 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? Do you
want the beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a
customer favorite I call the 'Thanksgiving Special'? 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 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. Sandra stammered, "Ahh, 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." "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 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 the thought that 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?" "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 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, 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-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?" "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."
The
card 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.
