The Rose Garden
There was once a woman, who, after years of work had grown a
beautiful rose garden. She worked a couple hours every day;
pruning, cleaning, feeding and weeding.
People would come from
many miles away to see the beautiful roses. The colors were
vibrant, the flowers were so big, you needed two hands to hold
them. Each day nurtured and cared for. Her love showed in her
garden.
After many years, the effects of time took their toll on the
lady and she was forced to abandon her garden and rely on her
daughter for care. Her daughter didn't mind.
She loved her
mother and felt it a great opportunity to spend time and really
get to know her Mother....sort of friend to friend, instead of
Mother to Daughter.
They talked about many things. They shared their experiences.
And the daughter learned that there was much to this great lady
that she hadn't known.
One day as they sat on the patio chatting, the daughter noticed
the long neglected rose garden and felt saddened. They spoke of
the garden and the daughter remarked how she used to laugh at
how her mother crawled around in that garden every day, talking
to the flowers, babying them like children.
The Mother smiled with a tear in her eye. She told her daughter
that observations are often misleading. "You see, my dear, that
garden is like a life. Let me explain. Each day I would get down
on my knees and thank God for each of those flowers. I thanked
God for their beauty, their aroma and the peacefulness of that
garden. And I took the opportunity while down there to clean out
those plants.
I got rid of the bugs, the dead pedals and leaves. I pulled the
weeds so that the bushes would grow healthy and robust. I saw
that garden as life. Each bush was an effort, each flower was
the blessing brought forth from that effort. And it was all
because God gave me the opportunity to try. And, as you can see,
like life, when the garden is not tended, the bushes become
wild, lanky and heavily barbed. They tangle among themselves.
Flowers become fewer and smaller, less aromatic. Until it
becomes so tangled and overgrown that it no longer resembles the
beautiful garden it had once been.
When you saw me crawling, I was praying. When you saw me talking
to the flowers, I was talking to God."
We each have a rose garden. How we tend that garden will
determine the beauty that it wields. But the thing to remember
is this: tending the garden cannot happen until we come to our
knees and get closer to the flowers. We need to take the
opportunity to talk to God, give him thanks and clean out the
dead weeds and pedals through repentance.
This is a great time for us. We have recently paid gratitude to
our military, the people who protect our liberties and freedoms.
And we have the opportunity soon to take a day and give thanks
for all that we hold dear.
Sadly, we have forgotten what Thanksgiving is about. A day
reserved for offering our thanks and gratitude to God, has
become a day to eat, drink, sleep and get ready to hit the Black
Friday sales at midnight. It has become just another day,
differing only by the fact that we have a great big meal.
When was the last time you got to your knees to tend your
garden. "Give thanks unto God in ALL things." THAT IS A
COMMANDMENT, not a request. Take time to think about the many
blessings you have been given. Approach this Holiday Season with
"AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE"!
