Inspirational Story "Thorns"

Happy Sunday Sweet Friends,


I decided to vary from Scripture
 Sunday today because I found
 something in my draft box that I 
rec'd in an email from someone
 years ago and somehow I never 
posted it,  but it is a really good
 read, so decided today was
 the day.

Hope you hang in and read
it all......as I think it really
gives us something to 
think about.........

THORNS  Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes 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. What's  worse, 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 me? For an airbag that saved my life but took my 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? 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 s nipped: there were  no flowers.  "Do you want these in a box?" asked the clerk..  Sandra watched - 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, "Ah, 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. 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  what 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?"  "Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced, " Phil replied. "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  that 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."  Praise Him for the roses;  thank Him for the thorns.  God Bless all of you.  Be thankful for all that the Lord does for you.  "Live simply, love generously, care deeply,  speak kindly, and leave the rest to God."  We often try to fix problems with WD-40 and Duct tape.  God did it with nails. Amen!! Hugs and Blessings, Nellie Sharing with: Oh My Heartsie Girl Dwellings The DedicatedHouse

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