"Some Words of Encouragement"   By Nancy Alexander

A Story of Hope…

Today I'd love to share with you a story from my daughter-in-law, Sara. She is the mother of three of my wonderful grandchildren. Sara is always looking for those teachable moments with the children and one came along the day Wyatt brought his Mommy a flower.
 

While Sara has a love for flowers like I do, she is still new to the world of gardening. It was a couple months ago when she discovered a bag of unplanted bulbs in her garage that had never made it into the ground. Determined to not let them go to waste, Sara and Wyatt (he's 3) worked together to get them in the ground. Several weeks of cold weather that followed left her wondering if those neglected bulbs would survive, but about 2 weeks ago tiny green sprouts begin to peak out of the ground. Everyday, Sara and the kids would check their progress, delighted when little buds began to form. Wyatt was especially excited about the flowers!

One day in his excitement, Wyatt decided to do something really special for his Mommy. He spotted one green shoot standing proudly out of the ground, with yellow bud on top. The flower hadn't opened yet, but that didn't stop Wyatt from snatching it right out of the ground and proudly bringing it to Sara. "This is for you Mommy!"  he said with a sweet smile on his face as he held the stem in his chubby toddler hands.  His older siblings immediately recognized that the flower was not ready to be picked and began lamenting that Wyatt had ruined Mommy's favorite flowers. A conversation on forgiveness and grace quickly happened and all was forgotten. 

Sara was disappointed of course. She too had been waiting with skeptical anticipation to see if those neglected bulbs would actually bloom. But like most days, Sara decided to choose hope and placed the bud in water in a vase of Forsythia stems on her kitchen table. Two mornings later, everyone was delighted to see the bud had opened during the night into a beautiful daffodil.

As the kids looked at the stunning flower, Sara said these powerful words to them, "This flower is just like all the miracles in our lives. We all thought this flower was going to die because it was picked too soon, but God allowed the flower to bloom so we can enjoy it and be reminded of His love for us! You see, we all make messes and mistakes, but God can take our mess and make something beautiful out of it! All we need to do is trust Him!" 

Since that day, the children have delighted in watching the other buds began to open up. So far, no one has picked another daffodil for their Mommy, but I'm sure when they do, Sara will be delighted to receive their gifts of love! 

Whatever challenges you are facing today, I pray that you will be encouraged by Sara's words.

Know that there is no mess that can not be cleaned up by God's loving presence in your life.

He loves you so much and has such wonderful plans for you!