Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: AMAZING (04/19/18)
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TITLE: Healing Flowers | Previous Challenge Entry
By LeslieJean Anderson
04/26/18 -
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So, I have developed strategies to derail it. The most powerful strategy is prayer every day - and sometimes every hour. And God will frequently answer my prayer with flowers.
Fresh flowers have had a magical effect on my mood in recent years. My kind and thoughtful late husband would frequently bring me beautiful bouquets of roses as an expression of love. Even after he died, a vase of roses would evoke happy memories of him and a sense of awe at God’s artistic genius.
So, when I sense the despair train approaching, I will go flower-hunting. When I find them, my heart will flood with gratitude to God for the beauty of His creations and the years I had with a good husband. I look for those flowers in different places, and often feel strong promptings to go to specific stores.
One time I was impressed to go to a drug store that had an inside stand for fresh flowers. As I parked I noticed the sign outside that said, “Fresh Flowers!” but to my disappointment, the stand was empty. A sales girl in training and her clueless manager said they had no idea when the delivery truck came and advised me to come back in a few days.
Well, for some reason I lingered at the store. I read gossip magazines for a while, and then finally bought something. But as I pulled out of the parking lot I noticed a small unmarked truck.
Still prompted to find flowers at that store, I turned back into the parking lot and drove around to the other side of the truck, where I spied a tiny sign in the truck’s window that said, “Fresh Flowers!” A driver was writing on a clipboard.
Jumping out of my car I said to the driver, “Are you delivering the flowers? Do you have any roses?”
Seven minutes later, I had my roses, and as I left, I stopped by the truck and asked the driver if he believed in God. He said yes, and I told him that God had sent him to bless me that day with his lovely bouquets.
But there was another time when I totally expected to be disappointed on a flower-hunting expedition. It was at a time when I felt particularly lonely, and I could feel the train of despair coming closer every day. That morning I’d been crying, and I knew I needed help. I began praying for relief, and to distract myself, I began thinking about where I could find my “magic flowers.”
The name of a certain store immediately popped into my mind, but they sold mostly dry goods. I decided not to go there, because I shopped there every week and they NEVER had flowers. So, I went to visit my daughter instead, hoping she’d cheer me up.
But to my annoyance, she insisted on going to that very same store, and asked me to come with her. Reluctantly I agreed, but when we entered the store that NEVER had flowers, my feet came to a screeching halt and I stared dumbfounded in amazement.
Right in front of the door was a HUGE display of the most perfect roses I’d ever seen – in every possible color! After I could move again, I laughed and began taking pictures with my phone. My daughter looked at me with concern on her face.
I smiled brightly to relieve her confusion at my sudden change in mood and said, “All these pretty flowers make me feel happy!”
As I paid for an armful of some gorgeous yellow roses, I asked the clerk about the display.
“I’ve been shopping here for a year and there have never been any flowers in this store. I can’t even find a good banana here, much less a pretty flower. Is there a holiday I don’t know about?”
She laughed and said, “We’ve been asking the manager that very same question. She struggled to set up the display and doesn’t even know why they’re here. The truck just showed up yesterday and delivered them for no particular reason.”
“Do you believe in God?” I whispered. She nodded.
“Well, thank your manager for me, and tell her I think God sent that truck to bless and uplift people like me with the beauty of these exquisite healing flowers.”
750 words This is a true story.
2 Timothy 1:7 - “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
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God knows just what we need and sends it just when we need it.
This will be a witness to many.
Thanks for sharing with us,
and I hope God's beauty surround you each and everyday, including yellow roses!
Blessings~
Well written and thank you for sharing your heart with us.