#header-inner img {margin: 0 auto !important;}

Friday, May 23, 2014

Six Pale-Pink Roses

"Honey, we only go through this old world once, and we have to make the best of it we can." My grandma laughingly shared these simple words with me a few days ago. I had only just returned home for the summer, and that special happy-content feeling of  returning home had settled upon me. Bittersweet were the emotions that had flooded my soul for the past week. Leaving a place and people to whom I have become uniquely attached is difficult, especially for one who feels so very deeply. 
Grandma had just handed me six pale-pink roses, and together we had arranged them in a clear vase. Why had she given me these roses? Why did she walk all the way down the wooded path to our house specifically to share her roses with me? This was just after Mother's Day, after all. Should not she be receiving roses rather than giving them?


"Well, Honey," she explained without being asked any of the above questions, "Someone gave me a dozen beautiful roses for Mother's Day, and I thought to myself, 'I don't need all twelve of these roses, but I know someone who might enjoy some.'"
So that was all. It was simple. This beautiful, tired lady with strong, loving hands and sun-tanned skin from hours of careful work in her garden had been given a gift. Just twelve roses. What she did with her gift made all the difference. Without a second thought, she took what she had been given, divided it, and happily and thoughtfully shared it with someone who needed it. Did I really need those roses, soft and slender like old-fashioned maidens with rosy cheeks and beaming faces? Perhaps not. But they were spirit-lifters and day-brighteners. And I needed the lesson that came with them. 
What a refreshing, intoxicatingly-beautiful fragrance I could be to my Master if I treasured this wisdom from Grandma. What if I took what daily gifts He has given me, divided them, and allowed Him to make them go farther? What if I doled them out, cheerfully and excitedly, among those who need them more than I do? What if I "stretched out my hand to the poor and needy" (Proverbs 31:20) and ministered to others in spiritual and tangible ways? 
What if six pale-pink roses make all the difference in someone's life?

~Miss Emily Elizabeth

2 comments:

Jessica said...

How precious! I want to learn to be more giving like Granny! Thanks so much, Emily, for sharing this--kindred cousin <3

Emily said...

Me too, Kindred Cousin :)I can't wait to see you soon, Lord willing, and be a part of an extremely special event in your life! <3