Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes when she pulled open the florist shop door, against a November gust of wind. Her life had been as sweet as a spring breeze and then, in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a "minor" automobile accident stole her joy. This was Thanksgiving week and the time she should have delivered their infant son. She grieved over their loss. Troubles had multiplied.

Her husband's company had "threatened" to transfer his job to a new location. Her sister had called to say that she could not come for her long awaited holiday visit. What was worse, a "friend" had suggested that Sandra's 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 her child"s?"
 

"Good afternoon, can I help you?"
 

Sandra was startled by the approach of the shop clerk.

 

"I . . I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.
 

"For Thanksgiving? 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 clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."
 

Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk greeted the new customer, "Hi, Barbara, let me get your order."

 

She excused herself and walked back to a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and what appeared to be long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped: there were no flowers.
 

"Do you want these in a box?" asked the clerk.

 

Sandra watched - 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 then departed.
 

Sandra stammered, "Ah, that lady just left with . . . uh . . she left with no flowers!"
 

"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 I never questioned Him why those good things happened to me, but when the bad stuff hit, I cried out, 'Why? Why me?!' It took time for me to learn that the dark times are important to our faith! I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of my life, but it took the 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 what 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!" the clerk greeted the balding, rotund man.

 

"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement . . . twelve 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 telling me why she wants a bouquet that looks like that?"
 

"Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced," Phil replied. "After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we trudged through problem after problem, the Lord rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she had learned from 'thorny' times. 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 to the clerk. "It's all too . . . fresh."
 

"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that the thorns make the roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember that 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 her 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:

Praise Him for the roses; thank Him for the thorns. God Bless all of you. Be thankful for all that the Lord does for you.
 

Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and leave the rest to God.