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THORNS
Sandra felt as low as the heels of her Birkenstocks 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 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. Had she lost a child? No,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 flower shop clerk's approach startled
her.
"Sorry," said Jenny, "I just didn't want you to think I was ignoring you."
"I....I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.
"For Thanksgiving?" Sandra nodded.
"Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day
with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving Special."
Jenny saw Sandra's curiosity and continued. "I'm convinced that flowers tell
stories, that each arrangement insinuates a particular feeling. Are you
looking for something that conveys gratitude this Thanksgiving?"
"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted. "Sorry, but in the last five months,
everything that could go wrong has."
Sandra regretted her outburst but was surprised when Jenny said, "I have the
perfect arrangement for you."
The door's small bell suddenly rang. "Barbara! Hi, let me get your order,"
Jenny said. She politely excused herself from Sandra and walked toward a
small workroom. She quickly reappeared carrying a massive arrangement of
greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses. Only, the ends of the rose
stems were neatly snipped, no flowers. "Want this in a box?" Jenny asked.
Sandra watched for Barbara's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose
stems and no flowers! She waited for laughter, for someone to notice the
absence of flowers atop the thorny stems, but neither woman did. "Yes,
please. It's exquisite," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile.
"You'd think after three years of getting the special, I'd not be so moved
by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again." She
gently tapped her chest. "My family will love this one. Thanks."
Sandra stared. Why so normal a conversation about so strange an arrangement?
she wondered.
"Uh," said Sandra, pointing. "That lady just left it, ah...uh.."
"Yes?"
"Well, you gave her no flowers!"
"Right, I cut off the flowers."
"Cut them off?"
"Off. Yep. That's the Special. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet."
"I just cannot believe people would pay for that!" In spite of herself she
chuckled.
"Do you really want to know why?"
"I couldn't leave this shop without knowing. I'd think of nothing else!"
"That might be good," mused Jenny. "Well," she continued, "Barbara came into
the shop three years ago feeling very much like you feel today. 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 faced major surgery."
"Ooooh!" murmured Sandra.
That same year, I had lost my husband," Jenny went on. "I assumed complete
responsibility for the shop and for the first time, spent the holidays
alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt
to allow any travel."
"What did you do?"
"I learned to be thankful for thorns."
Sandra's eyebrows lifted. "Thorns?"
"I'm a Christian, Sandra. I've always thanked God for good things in life
and I never thought to ask Him why good things happened to me, but, when bad
stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time 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."
She started to ask Jenny to "go on" when the door's bell diverted their
attention.
"Hey, Phil!" shouted Jenny as a balding, rotund man entered the shop.
She softly touched Sandra's arm and moved to welcome him. He tucked her
under his side for a warm hug.
"I'm here for twelve thorny long-stemmed stems!" Phil laughed, heartily.
"I figured as much," said Jenny, "and I've got them ready." She lifted a
tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerated cabinet.
"Beautiful," exclaimed Phil. "My wife will love them!"
Sandra could not resist asking. "These are for your wife? Do you mind me
asking, why thorns?"
"In fact, 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 guidance, we slogged through, problem by rotten problem. He rescued
our marriage-our love, really. Last year at Thanksgiving I stopped in here
for flowers. I must have mentioned surviving a tough process because Jenny
told me that for a long time she kept a vase of rose stems--- stems!---as a
reminder of what she learned from "thorny" times. That was good enough for
me. I took home stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a
specific thorny situation and give thanks for what the problem taught us."
Phil paid Jenny, thanked her again and as he left, said to Sandra,
"I highly recommend the Special!"
"I don't know if I can be thankful yet for the thorns in my life." Sandra
said to Jenny. "It is still...too fresh."
"Well," Sandra replied carefully, "my experience says 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. Do not 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," Jenny said. "I'll have them ready in a minute. Then,
every time you see them, remember to appreciate both good and hard times. We
grow through both."
"Thank you. What do I owe you?"
"Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow our Lord to heal your heart. The
first year's arrangement is always on me." Jenny smiled and handed a card
to Sandra. "I'll attach a card like this to your arrangement but maybe you'd
like to read it first."
It said:
"My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorns! I have thanked Thee 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 to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears
have made my rainbow.
Written by: George Matheson
Worrying does not empty tomorrow
of its troubles, it empties today of its
strength.
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