Praise Him for your roses, Thank Him for your thorns

I thought this blogging thing would be hard but it's kinda fun.

I had to go pee in a cup today, random drug test at work. The
only drug they will find in me is diet pepsi (is that a drug?) The
job being so new and just having done this about six weeks ago,
I was kinda surprised but hey, it's their money.

The day went by quick as it often does at work, especially with my
little outing. Everyone in a good mood. Boss gone most of the day.
Guess you can mark it as a good day, except for the 911 call at the
end of the day. One of our consumers had a seizure, then one after
another. New for me to see, but not new for him. Say a prayer. He
may need it. Include his wife, she is a consumer too.

With this post I thought I would take a few minutes to explain how
I got the name for my blog. I spent about a month contemplating on
what to name something I would look at on a regular basis. I read
many blog, and found a lot of really cool names but nothing I read
gave me any new ideas for my own. None, that is, until I got an email
from a church friend. She is always sending neat and funny things via
the email. Thanks Rose! It was called, "Thank God for your thorns".
I read it and was very touched. I went to work the following day and
couldn't get this message out of my head. Then I realized that maybe
it stuck in my head because I had prayed for a inspirational title to
something I know will turn into a blessing.

Our lives are filled with roses and thorns on a daily basis. Sometimes
lives seem like there are only thorns. But isn't it the thorns that make
us strong. Aren't the thorns the lessons learned, the pillar of which
makes us strong?

My life has been filled with roses and thorns. My childhood isn't
something I want to repeat any time soon, but my adult life has
been a true blessing. I raised my daughter by my self in a time
it wasn't cool to be a single parent. I had a lot of thorn filled days
but often didn't realize they were thorn days because God carried
me when things got too tuff. Only when my friends would ask how
in the world did you get through that did I realize just how blessed
I was to have God on my side. I know I'm getting deep here but that
is truly how I feel about it.

Oh, this was about the title of my blog, yes, yes, I'm getting there. I
have p ut the story that inspired me to name my blog below. I just
know you will be as touched as I was when I read it. Here goes:

THANK HIM FOR YOUR 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 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 empathic with others
who suffer."She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder.
"Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered. For a careless driver's
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 shop clerk's approach startledher."I Â… I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra."For Thanksgiving? Do you
want beautiful but ordinary," asked the shopclerk, "or would you like to challenge the day
with a customer favoriteI call the 'Thanksgiving 'Special'? 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 shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."Then
the door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi, Barbara... let me get your order." She politely excused herself and walked toward a small work room, then quickly reappeared,
carrying anarrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the
ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped; there were no flowers."Want this 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, butneither woman laughed."Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile."You'd think after three years of getting
the special, I wouldn't be somoved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again,"
she said as she gently tapped her chest."Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with,
uh Â… she just leftwith no flowers!" "Right," said the clerk, "I cut off the flowers. That's the Special. Icall 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 like you feel today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to bethankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was
into drugs, and she was facing major surgery."That same year I had lost my husband,"
continued the clerk, "and for the first time in my life, had just spent the holidays alone. I had
no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allowany 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 good things in life and never to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important. Ihave 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 sucked in her breath
as she thought about the very thing 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!" shouted the clerk to 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 atissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator."Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind measking why she wants something that
looks like that?""No Â… I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago, my wife and Inearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but withthe Lord's grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem.He rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told
me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from "thorny" times, and
that was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wifeand I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanksfor 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," Sandrasaid to the clerk. "It's all too ... fresh.""Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember, 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 theaccident, she loosened her grip on 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 aminute.""Thank you. What do I owe you?" "Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. Thefirst 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 thankedYou 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 methat, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant.

"Praise Him for your roses, thank Him for your thorns".

Pretty deep, wouldn't you say? I like it!

Signing for for now. Take care and God Bless, Darlene