Sweet love
stories can inspire romance even if they aren't
necessarily about romantic love. Just reading something
about true love of any kind can make you feel so
appreciative of the love in your life. This is a
very beautiful story defining the true beauty of love.
We have no idea who wrote it but it's such a pretty
story that we decided to include it. Should whomever
wrote it come forth and object to it's use, we will
gladly remove it or give credit to the author.
The Thanksgiving Special...
-Author Unknown-
Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes 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 that from her.
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 for the holiday.
Then 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. 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 that of her child?
"Good afternoon, can I help you?" The shop clerk's approach startled her. "I....
I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.
"For Thanksgiving? Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to
challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the 'Thanksgiving Special? '"
asked the shop clerk. "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 shop clerk said, "I
have the perfect arrangement for you."
Just then the shop 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 workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement 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, 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. And she left with her order.
"Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uh.... she just left with no
flowers!"
"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 like you feel
today," explained the clerk. "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 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 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 never questioned the good things
that happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask questions! It took
time for me to learn that dark times are important. I have 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 Special.... 12 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 me asking
why she wants something 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 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 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.
"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 the accident, 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 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 difficulties I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have
drawn closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the
colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant."
Praise Him for your roses; thank Him for your thorns!
~ Author Unknown ~
