Flower Power

I absolutely love flowers of pretty much any kind. For some unknown reason, I failed to inherit my mother's green thumb, so I'm usually better off buying flowers that someone else cultivated rather than try to grow them on my own. Much as I love keeping fresh flowers in my house, I often see that as an unnecessary expense and usually only treat myself to flowers once in a blue moon.

This past weekend, however, God surprised me with not one but two sets of "real" flowers. The first came from an awards banquet that our association had Friday night. The centerpieces were gorgeous arrangements of yellow roses, red tulips, orange lillies, and other sunset-colored flowers. Absolutely stunning. We had enough arrangements left over to divvy up among our staff, so I was able to take an arrangement home, where it is now on display on the coffee table in my living room.

The second set of flowers came from my very own backyard, but once again, I can't take credit for it. I've lived in my house for nearly 8 and a half years now. Last spring I noticed for the first time an iris growing in my yard--and I've never planted any irises. The other day I noticed that the iris had sprouted again, only this time there were two blooms on the stalk. I cut the two blooms and placed them in a small vase that I placed in my bedroom. When I wake up in the morning, and before I go to bed at night, I can see those beautiful purple and yellow irises.

In both instances, I had nothing to do with the sowing of the flower seeds and bulbs, the cultivation of the soil, the watering of the flowers--and yet I still benefited from their growth. God knows how much joy flowers bring me. How gracious and loving He is to surprise me with flowers this week! And if He is so generous in even these "little" things, how much more is He in the "big" things? I think sometimes He gives me these little unexpected treats just to remind me of how much He loves me and is faithful to me.

I hope that you're experiencing some treats from God this week as well!