[Faith-talk] FW: [BlindMen4Christ] Thanksgiving Thanks!

[Bonnie A]

This is one I really appreciate, especially since I've really been in a 
valley of my own the last year and a half, especially.  Thanks for sharing 
this one, Wesley.

------
Bonnie Ainsworth
Lincoln, NE USA

File not found ! Should I fake it? (Y/N)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "WESLEY BURDEN" <wesley.burden at verizon.net>
To: "'Faith-talk, for the discussion of faith and religion'" 
<faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 10:11 AM
Subject: [Faith-talk] FW: [BlindMen4Christ] Thanksgiving Thanks!




-----Original Message-----
From: blindmen4christ-bounces at morales-family.lljfm.net
[mailto:blindmen4christ-bounces at morales-family.lljfm.net] On Behalf Of Stu
(by way of Curtis Delzer <curtis at calweb.com>)
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 10:46 AM
To: Blind men for Christ
Subject: [BlindMen4Christ] Thanksgiving Thanks!

Thanksgiving Classic: Thankful For The 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
on 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.

"Had she lost a child?  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?"  Sandra nodded.  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, "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 (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."