- Jun 27, 2003
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THE STRANGE BOUQUET
*** WARNING TISSUES NEEDED ***
Susan felt as low 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, Susan'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," Susan 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 Susan. "Sorry," said Jenny, the shop clerk, "I just didn't want you to think I was ignoring you."
"I... I need an arrangement." "For Thanksgiving?" Susan 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 Susan'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!" Susan blurted. "Sorry, but in the last five months, everything that could go wrong has."
Susan regretted her outburst but was surprised when Jenny said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."
The door to the shop once again opened. "Barbara! Hi," Jenny said. She politely excused herself from Susan 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. Susan watched for Barbara's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems and no flowers! She waited for laughter, for someone to comment on 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."
Why so normal a conversation about such a strange arrangement, Susan wondered.
"Ah," said Susan, pointing. "That lady just left with, ah...?"
"Yes?"
"Well, she had no flowers!"
"Right, I cut off the flowers."
"Off?"
"Off. Yep. That's the 'Special.' I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet."
"But, why do people pay for that?" In spite of herself, Susan chuckled.
"Do you really want to know?"
"I couldn't leave your shop without knowing... I would wonder 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."
"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," Jenny said.
"What did you do?"
"I learned to be thankful for thorns."
Susan's eyebrows lifted. "Thorns?" I'm a Christian and I believe God gave us all things in life, but 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."
Susan 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!" called Jenny as a balding, rotund man entered the shop. She gently touched Susan's arm and moved to welcome him. He tucked her under his arm for a warm hug.
"I'm here for 12 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."
Susan couldn't help but ask, "These are for your wife?"
Phil saw that Susan's curiosity matched his own when he first heard of a Thorn Bouquet. "Do you mind me asking, why thorns?"
"In fact, I'm glad you asked," he said. "Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After 40 years, we were in a real mess, but we slogged 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 -- just the 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 has become a tradition." Phil paid Jenny, thanked her again and as he left, said to Susan, "I highly recommend the Special!"
"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life," Susan 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, Jesus wore a crown of thorns so that we might know His love. Do not resent thorns, actually be thankful for them."
Tears rolled down Susan's cheeks. For the first time since the accident she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll take 12 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 Susan. "I'll attach a card like this to your arrangement but maybe you'd like to read it first. Go ahead, read it."
"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 to You by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbow." ~ George Matheson ~
Jenny said, "Happy Thanksgiving, Susan," handing her the Special. "I look forward to our knowing each other better."
Susan smiled. She turned, opened the door, and walked toward hope.
Author Unknown
Submitted by Richard
*** WARNING TISSUES NEEDED ***
Susan felt as low 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, Susan'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," Susan 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 Susan. "Sorry," said Jenny, the shop clerk, "I just didn't want you to think I was ignoring you."
"I... I need an arrangement." "For Thanksgiving?" Susan 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 Susan'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!" Susan blurted. "Sorry, but in the last five months, everything that could go wrong has."
Susan regretted her outburst but was surprised when Jenny said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."
The door to the shop once again opened. "Barbara! Hi," Jenny said. She politely excused herself from Susan 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. Susan watched for Barbara's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems and no flowers! She waited for laughter, for someone to comment on 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."
Why so normal a conversation about such a strange arrangement, Susan wondered.
"Ah," said Susan, pointing. "That lady just left with, ah...?"
"Yes?"
"Well, she had no flowers!"
"Right, I cut off the flowers."
"Off?"
"Off. Yep. That's the 'Special.' I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet."
"But, why do people pay for that?" In spite of herself, Susan chuckled.
"Do you really want to know?"
"I couldn't leave your shop without knowing... I would wonder 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."
"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," Jenny said.
"What did you do?"
"I learned to be thankful for thorns."
Susan's eyebrows lifted. "Thorns?" I'm a Christian and I believe God gave us all things in life, but 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."
Susan 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!" called Jenny as a balding, rotund man entered the shop. She gently touched Susan's arm and moved to welcome him. He tucked her under his arm for a warm hug.
"I'm here for 12 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."
Susan couldn't help but ask, "These are for your wife?"
Phil saw that Susan's curiosity matched his own when he first heard of a Thorn Bouquet. "Do you mind me asking, why thorns?"
"In fact, I'm glad you asked," he said. "Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After 40 years, we were in a real mess, but we slogged 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 -- just the 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 has become a tradition." Phil paid Jenny, thanked her again and as he left, said to Susan, "I highly recommend the Special!"
"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life," Susan 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, Jesus wore a crown of thorns so that we might know His love. Do not resent thorns, actually be thankful for them."
Tears rolled down Susan's cheeks. For the first time since the accident she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll take 12 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 Susan. "I'll attach a card like this to your arrangement but maybe you'd like to read it first. Go ahead, read it."
"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 to You by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbow." ~ George Matheson ~
Jenny said, "Happy Thanksgiving, Susan," handing her the Special. "I look forward to our knowing each other better."
Susan smiled. She turned, opened the door, and walked toward hope.
Author Unknown
Submitted by Richard
