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.
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 row 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 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 thorns. Show me that I have
climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made
my rainbow."
---George Matheson---
