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Author
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Topic: Thanksgiving Roses
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TEXASGRANDMA
Advanced Member
Member # 847
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posted
Drew, thank you for sharing the story and the song.
It Is Well With My Soul was sung back 13 years ago this month at my sister's funeral. For a year, I would cry like a baby when our Church sang that song. Sometimes, asking God, why they had to sing that song so much. ![[Smile]](smile.gif) But now the song brings me comfort. God has healed my broken heart and I listen to the song now and feel the hope in knowing that yes we can find joy and comfort in knowing we are safe in God's arms. That no matter what happens to us, our soul is safe and well thanks be to God.
When this life is over, it will not matter whether we are healthy or crippled, what will manner is the condition of our soul.
Thank you again.
betty
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Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
http://www.indieheaven.com/artists/mm (son-in-law)http://www.myspace.com/mireles
Posts: 4985 | From: Washington State | Registered: Jan 2003
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Caretaker
Advanced Member
Member # 36
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posted
God bless you;
I do not remember where this came from, but I came across this today and thought I might share as it is just a week until Thanksgiving.
THANKSGIVING ROSES
Sandra felt as low as the heels of her Birkenstocks 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.
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."
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."
IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
Horatio Spafford
This hymn was written after two major traumas in Spafford’s life. The first was the great Chicago Fire of October 1871, which ruined him financially (he had been a wealthy businessman). Shortly after, while crossing the Atlantic, all four of Spafford’s daughters died in a collision with another ship. Spafford’s wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, “Saved alone.” Several weeks later, as Spafford’s own ship passed near the spot where his daughters died, the Holy Spirit inspired these words. They speak to the eternal hope that all believers have, no matter what pain and grief be*fall them on earth
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Refrain
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
Refrain
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Refrain
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
Refrain
But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!
Refrain
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
Refrain
O’Father God we give Thee thanks that you know us better than we know ourselves, and that though our petitions be so imperfect, You are so precious to answer our prayers, though often in ways we had not even expected nor imagined. O’Lord when the darkness closes in, we need only whisper, “Jesus”, and you pierce the dark with Thy precious Light. You carry us when we are too weak to go forward on our own, and You lead us with Thy precious Light upon our path. Lord may we be yielded to Thy perfect will, may we seek not the way that we would wish to go, but the path that You would have us to travel. We give You praise for those newly embarked upon the Pilgrim’s path, and we pray that they be given wisdom to discern Thy paths, patience to listen for Thy voice, and courage to “standfast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not again enchained in the yoke of bondage.”
O’Lord give us we pray a filling within us of Thy Holy Spirit, that we would rededicate ourselves to Thee. May we go forth with love and dedication to serving others first, before we dine at Thy banquet table. Your Word tells us that whatsoever we do unto the least of these, we do unto Thee, so may we never look down our noses at another human being, no matter their circumstances, or their appearance. Praise you dear Jesus, that though you deserved a throne with all the trappings of majesty, You chose to walk among the poor, the destitute, and the unsavory. You Dear Jesus went to those most in need of healing by Thee, the Great Physician.
Father God may we be ever thankful for Thy salvation through Christ Jesus our Lord, and may we be ever thankful and content regardless of circumstance, for we know that all things work together for them that love You. Thank You Dear Father for all that You are and for Your eternal love for Your precious children. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
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A Servant of Christ,
Drew
1 Tim. 3:
16: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh..
Posts: 3978 | From: Council Grove, KS USA | Registered: Jun 2002
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