When I was little, my mother used to sew a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering.

As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat.

She would smile at me, look down and gently say, "Son, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side."

I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother's voice say, "Son, come and sit on my knee."

This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower, or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

Then Mother would say to me, "My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing."

Many times through the years I have looked up to heaven and said, "Father, what are You doing?"

He has answered, "I am embroidering your life."
I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?"

The Father seems to tell me, "'My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side."

Author Unknown

THANKS FOR THE CAKE

  

                          A little boy is telling his Grandma how "everything" is going wrong. School, family problems, severe health problems, etc.
Meanwhile, Grandma is baking a cake. She asks the child if he would like a snack, which of course he does.
"Here. Have some cooking oil."
"Yuck" says the boy "How about a couple raw eggs?"

"Gross, Grandma"

"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?"

"Grandma, those are all yucky!"

To which Grandma replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves.
But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!

God works the same way. Many times we wonder why he would let us go through such bad and difficult times.
But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good!

We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!"-

Author Unknown

A PENNY TODAY

                          Found a penny today
Just laying on the ground,
But it's not just a penny
This little coin I've found.
Found pennies come from Heaven
That's what my Grandpa told me,
He said Angels toss them down
Oh, how I loved that story.
He said when an Angel misses you
They toss a penny down,
Sometimes just to cheer you up
To make a smile out of your frown.
So don't pass by that penny
When you're feeling blue,
It may be a penny from Heaven
That an Angel's tossed to you.
Pass this on to the people who you care about and
who you feel are angels to you.
An angel is now watching over you....

Author Unknown

THORNS

  

                          Sandra felt as low as the heels of her Birkenstocks as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a spring breeze.
Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole her ease.
During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss.
As if that weren't enough her husband's company threatened a transfer.
Then her sister, whose holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come.
What's worse, Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer.
"Had she lost a child? -No--she has no idea what I'm feeling,"
Sandra shuddered. "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 that of her child?"
"Good afternoon, can I help you?" The flower shop clerk's approach startled her. "Sorry," said Jenny, "I just didn't want you to think I was ignoring you."
"I....I need an arrangement.""For Thanksgiving?"Sandra nodded. "Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving Special."
Jenny saw Sandra's curiosity and continued. "I'm convinced that flowers tell stories, that each arrangement insinuates a particular feeling. Are you looking for something that conveys gratitude this Thanksgiving?"
"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted. "Sorry, but in the last five months, everything that could go wrong has."
Sandra regretted her outburst but was surprised when Jenny said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."
The door's small bell suddenly rang.
"Barbara! Hi," Jenny said. She politely excused herself from Sandra and walked toward a small workroom. She quickly reappeared carrying a massive arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses.
Only, the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped, no flowers.
"Want this in a box?" Jenny asked. Sandra watched for Barbara's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems and no flowers! She waited for laughter, for someone to notice the absence of flowers atop the thorny stems, but neither woman did.
"Yes, please.
It's exquisite," said Barbara. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I'd not be so moved by its significance, but it's happening again. My family will love this one. Thanks."
Sandra stared. "Why so normal a conversation about so strange an arrangement?" she wondered.
"Ah . . . ," said Sandra, pointing. "That lady just left with, ah....." "Yes?""Well, she had no flowers!"
"Right, I cut off the flowers.""Off?"
"Off. Yep. That's the Special. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet."
"But, why do people pay for that?" In spite of herself she chuckled.
"Do you really want to know?"
"I couldn't leave this shop without knowing. I'd think about nothing else!"
"That might be good," said Jenny. "Well," she continued, "Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling very much like you feel today.
She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she faced major surgery."
"Ouch!" said Sandra.
"That same year, I lost my husband. I assumed complete responsibility for the shop and for the first time, spent the holidays alone.
I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel."
"What did you do?"
"I learned to be thankful for thorns."
Sandra's eyebrows lifted.
"Thorns?"
"I'm a Christian, Sandra. I've always thanked God for good things in life and I never thought to ask Him why good things happened to me?
But, when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time to learn that dark times are important.
I always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life but it took 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 gasped. "A friend read that passage to me and I was furious! I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God."
She started to ask Jenny to "go on" when the door's bell diverted their attention."Hey, Phil!" shouted Jenny as a balding, rotund man entered the shop.
She softly touched Sandra's arm and moved to welcome him. He tucked her under his side for a warm hug.
"I'm here for twelve thorny long-stemmed stems!" Phil laughed, heartily.
"I figured as much," said Jenny. "I've got them ready." She lifted a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerated cabinet.
"Beautiful," said Phil. "My wife will love them."
Sandra could not resist asking. "These are for your wife?"
Phil saw that Sandra's curiosity matched his when he first heard of a Thorn Bouquet.
"Do you mind me asking, "Why thorns?"
"In fact, I'm glad you asked," he said. "Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but we slogged through, problem by rotten problem.
We rescued our marriage, our love, really.
Last year at Thanksgiving I stopped in here for flowers.
I must have mentioned surviving a tough process because Jenny told me that for a long time she kept a vase of rose stems-stems! - as a reminder of what she learned from "thorny" times.
That was good enough for me. I took home stems.
My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific thorny situation and give thanks for what the problem taught us.
I'm pretty sure this stem review is becoming a tradition." Phil paid Jenny, thanked her again and as he left, 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 Jenny.
"Well, my experience says that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time.
Remember, Sandra, Jesus wore a crown of thorns so that we might know His love. Do not resent thorns."
Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll take twelve long-stemmed thorns,please."
"I hoped you would," Jenny said. "I'll have them ready in a minute.
Then, every time you see them, remember to appreciate both good and hard times. We grow through both."
"Thank you.
What do I owe you?"
"Nothing. Nothing but a pledge to work toward healing your heart.The first year's arrangement is always on me."
Jenny handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach a card like this to your arrangement but maybe you'd like to read it first.
Go ahead, read it." "My God, I have never thanked you for my thorn! I have thanked you a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorn.
Teach me the glory of the cross I bear, teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed to you by the path of pain.
Show me that my tears have made my rainbow.
George Matheson"
Jenny said, "Happy Thanksgiving, Sandra," handing her the Special.
"I look forward to our knowing each other better."
Sandra smiled.
She turned, opened the door, and walked toward hope.
(Author Unknow)
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