A Blue Rose

A Blue Rose
Having four visiting family members, my wife was very busy, so I offered to go to the store for her to get some needed items, which included light bulbs, paper towels, trash bags, deteregent and Clorox. So off I went.
I scurried around the store, gathered up my goodies and headed for the checkout counter, only to be blocked in the narrow aisle by a young man who appeared to be about sixteen-years-old. I wasn't in a hurry, so I patiently waited for the boy to realize that I was there. This was when he waved his hands excitedly in the air and declared in a loud voice, "Mommy, I'm over here."
"My name is Denny and I'm shopping with my mother," he responded proudly.
"Wow," I said "that's a cool name; I wish my name was Denny, but my name is Steve."
"Steve, like Stevarino?" he asked. "Yes," I answered. "How old are you Denny?"
"How old am I now, Mommy?" he asked his mother as she slowly came over from the next aisle.
"You're fifteen-years-old Denny;
now be a good boy and let the man pass by."
I acknowledged her and continued to talk to Denny for several more minutes about summer, bicycles and school. I watched his brown eyes dance with excitement, because he was the center of someone's attention. He then abruptly turned and headed toward the toy section.
Denny's mom had a puzzled look on her face and thanked me for taking time to talk with her son. She told me that most people wouldn't even look at him, much less talk to him.
I told her that it was my pleasure and then I said something I have no idea where it came from, other than by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I told her that there are plenty of red, yellow, and pink roses in God's Garden; however, "Blue Roses" are very rare and should be appreciated for their beauty and distinctiveness. You see, Denny is a Blue Rose and if someone doesn't stop and smell that rose with their heart and touch that rose with their kindness, then they've missed a blessing from God.
She was silent for a second, then with a tear in her eye she asked, "Who are you?"
Without thinking I said, "Oh, I'm probably just a dandelion, but I sure love living in God's garden."
She reached out, squeezed my hand and said, "God bless you!" and then I had a tear in my eyes.
May I suggest, the next time you see a BLUE ROSE, don't turn your head and walk off. Take the time to smile and say Hello. Why? Because, by the grace of
GOD, this mother or father could be you. This could be your child, grandchild, niece or nephew. What a difference a moment can mean to that person or their family.
From an old dandelion! Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
"People will forget what you said, People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel!"
ANON

Love

Love, Love, Love!!!
I just finished talking with my niece Violet. I love that girl. Now I love all my nieces and nephews allot. Wish I could spend more time getting to know them better. Violet and I live close to each other so have been able to spend more time together as adults. We laugh together allot. She tries to blackmail me with things I say or do. (just all in fun) I challenged her today to find a scripture which gave her permission to do that. I reminded her that God said " BE YE KIND ONE TO ANOTHER"

The Old Fisherman

The Old Fisherman

Our house was directly across the street
from the clinic entrance of Johns Hopkins
hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs
and rented the upstairs rooms to outpatients at
the Clinic.

One summer evening as I was fixing supper,
there was a knock at the door I opened it to see
a truly awful looking man. "Why he's hardly taller
than my eight-year old," I thought as I stared at
the stooped, shriveled body.

But the appalling thing was his face, lopsided
from swelling, red and raw yet his voice was
pleasant as he said,"Good evening. I've come to see if
you've a room for just one night. I came for a
treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there's
no bus 'till morning.'

He told me he'd been hunting for a room since noon
but with no success; no one seemed to have a room. "I guess
it's my face. I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says
with a few more treatments..."

For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me: "I
could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves
early in the morning." I told him we would find him a bed, but
to rest on the porch till supper. When we were ready, I asked the
old man if he would join us. "No thank you. I have plenty and he
held up a brown paper bag.

When I had finished dishes. I went out on the porch to talk with
him a few minutes. It didn't take a long time to see that this old
man had an oversize heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children
and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury.

He didn't tell it by way of complaint; in fact. every other
sentence was prefaced with thanks to God for a blessing. He was
grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going.

At bedtime, we put a cot in the children's room for him. When I got up in the morning, the linens were neatly folded, and the little man was out on the porch.

He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, "could I please come back an stay the next time I have a treatment? I won't put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair." He paused a moment and then added."Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don't seem to mind." I told him he was welcome to come again.

And on his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they'd be nice and fresh. I knew his bus left at 4 a.m.,and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.

In the years he came to stay overnight with us there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden.

Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious.

When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next door neighbor made after he left that first morning. "Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!"

Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice but, oh! If only they could have known him, perhaps their illness would have been easier to bear, I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God.

Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse. As she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket. I thought to myself, "If this were my plant, I'd put it in the lovliest container I had!"

My friend changed my mind. "I ran short of pots," she explained, and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn't mind starting out in this old pail. "It's just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden."

She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly, but I was imagining just such a scene in heaven. There's an especially beautiful one. "God might have said when He came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman. "He won't mind starting in this small body."

All this happened long ago--and now, in God's garden, how tall this lovely soul must stand.

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Handwrriting On the Wall

A weary mother returned from the store. lugging groceries
through the kitchen door.
A waiting her arrival was her eight year old son, anxious to relate
what his younger brother had done.

While I was out playing and Dad was on a call, T. J. took his
crayons and wrote on the wall
It's on the new paper you just hung in the den. I told him you'd be
mad at having to do it again.

She let out a moan and furrowed her brow, "Where is your
little brother right now?"
She emptied her arms and with a purposeful stride she marched to his closet where he had gone to hide.

She called his full name as she entered his room. He trembled with fear--he knew that meant doom
For the next ten minutes, she ranted and raved about the expensive wallpaper and how she had saved.

Lamenting all the work it would take to repair, she condemed his action and total lack of care.
The more she scolded, the madder she got, then stomped from his room, totally distraught.

She headed for the den to confirm her fears when she saw the wall, her eyes flooded with tears.
The message she read pierced her soul with a dart. It said, "I love Mommy", surrounded by a heart.

Well, the wallpaper remained, just as she found it, with and empty picture frame hung to surround it.
A reminder to her, and indeed to all: "Take time to read the handwriting on the wall."

My Cup Runneth Over with Love

Our friend over at http://adustyframe.com/ wrote the sweetest blog today. Take time to visit it. We love this couple.
This is one of our favorite LOVE songs: MY Cup Runneth Over with Love
Click on album cover in middle of right side when you reach the site. This year in September we will celebrate 44 years of wonderful marriage life.

Matthew hugging his Mom

 

HUGS

HUGS
It's wondrous what a hug can do,
A hug can cheer you when you're blue
A hug can say, "I love you so," or
"Gee, I hate to see you go"
A hug is, "Welcome back again,"
and "Great to see you! where've you been?"
A hug can soothe a small child's pain
and bring a rainbow after rain,
A hug delights and warms and charms,
It must be why God gave us arms.
Hugs are great for fathers and mothers,
sweet for sisters, swell for brothers.
And chances are your favorite aunts
love them more than potted plants.
Kittens crave them, puppies love them,
Heads of state are not above them.
A hug can break the language barrier
and make your travels so much merrier.
No need to fret about your store of 'em
So stretch those arms without delay
and give someone a HUG today.