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
that from her.
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 holiday visit
she coveted, called saying she could not come for the holiday.
Then 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. 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."
Just then the shop 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. And she left with her
order.
"Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with,
uh....she just left with no flowers!
"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 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, had just spent 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 the good things in my life and never
questioned the good things that happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I
ever ask questions! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important.
I have 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
Special....12 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 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. "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?"
"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 your roses; thank him for your
thorns!
-- Nancy Leigh DeMoss
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