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."
"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 conveys 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!" Jenny
said. She politely excused herself from Sandra and walked
toward a small workroom. She quickly reappeared carrying a
massive arrangement of green 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!," said Barbara. "You'd think
after three years of getting the Special, I'd not be so
moved by its significance, but it's happening again. 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 with..uh...."
"Yes?"
"Well, she had no flowers!"
"Off? Yep. That's the Special. I call it the 'Thanksgiving
Thorns Bouquet'."
"But, why do people pay for that?" In spite of herself, she
chuckled.
"Do you really want to know?"
"I couldn't leave this shop without knowing. I'd think
about nothing else!"
"That might be good," said 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."
"Ouch!" said Sandra.
"That same year I lost my husband. 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 gasped. "A friend read that passage to me and I was
furious! 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. "I've got them ready." She
lifted a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerated
cabinet.
"Beautiful," said Phil. "My wife will love them."
Sandra could not resist asking, "These are for your wife?"
Phil saw that Sandra's curiosity matched his when he first
heard of a Thorn Bouquet. "Do you mind me asking, '
Why thorns'?"
"No, in fact, I"m glad you asked," he said. "Four years ago
my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years we
were in a real mess, but we slugged through, problem by
rotten problem. We 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. I'm pretty sure this stem
review is becoming a tradition."
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 for thorns in my life,"
Sandra said to Jenny.
"Well, my experience says that thorns make roses more
precious. We treasure God's providential care more during
trouble than at any other time. Remember, Sandra, Jesus
wore a crown of thorns so that we might know His love.
Do not resent thorns."
Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since
the accident, she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll
take twelve long-stemmed thorns, please."
"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 pledge to work toward healing your
heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me." Jenny
handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach a card like this to
your arrangement, but maybe you'd like to read
it first. Go ahead, read it."
The card read: "My God, I have never thanked Thee for my
thorn! I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my
roses, but never once for my thorn. Teach me the glory of
the cross I bear; teach me the value of thorns. Show
me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me
that my tears have made my rainbow."
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Stories 2
Stories of Humor and Inspiration
Thank you, Lord, for the 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. "Has she lost a child? No, she has no
idea what I'm feeling," Sandra shuddered.