I was wrapped in the preparations for my daughter's June wedding to be held in a church about forty miles away from my home.
The days and weeks were loaded with responsibilities -- so many details, so many bills within such a short time.
My son Jack promised he would walk his younger sister down the aisle in their dad's place; he died a few years earlier. Jack teased Patsy saying he'd wanted to give her away since she was about three years old!
To save money, I gathered blossoms from several friends who had large magnolia trees. The luscious, creamy-white blooms and slick green leaves would make beautiful arrangements against the rich dark wood inside the church.
Finally, the big day arrived. While the bridesmaids helped Patsy to dress, her fiancé Tim walked with me to the sanctuary to do a final check.
When we opened the door, I felt a rush of hot air, I almost fainted. And then I saw them - all the beautiful white magnolias which I gathered from friends' trees in my hometown were all black -- funeral black! An electrical storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system in the church, and in the heat of the summer night, the flowers all wilted and died.
I started to panic. I knew I didn't have time to drive back to my hometown to gather more flowers, and return in time for the wedding, and I certainly didn't have the extra money to buy flowers from the florist in town.
My prospective son-in-law turned to me and asked "Can you get more flowers? I'll throw away these dead ones and put fresh flowers in these arrangements."
As he walked down the hall, I mumbled, "Sure."
Now alone in the large sanctuary, I looked up at the dark wooden beams in the arched ceiling and prayed, '"Lord, please help me. I don't know anyone in this town. Help me find someone willing to give me flowers in a hurry!"
I scurried out praying for a miracle to happen. As I left the church, I saw in the distance a house with many magnolia trees in bloom.
I hurriedly approached the house. With no dog in sight, I ran and knocked on the door. An older man answered the door. So far so good. No shotgun. When I told him my story, the man beamed and said, "I'd be happy to!"
He got a stepladder, climbed up, and cut large boughs of beautiful magnolias which he handed down to me.
Minutes later, as I lifted the last armload of magnolias into my car trunk, I told him, "Sir, you've made the mother of a bride happy today!"
‘No, Ma'am,' he retorted, 'You made me very happy today!"
"How can that be?" I asked.
"I know you don't know me and what just happened to me. You see, my wife of sixty-seven years died just last Monday. On Tuesday I received friends at the funeral home, and on Wednesday..."
[He paused. I saw tears welling up in his eyes]…
"...I buried her."
[He looked away]…
"...On Thursday, most of my out-of-town relatives went back home, and on Friday, yesterday, my children left."
[I just stood quietly as the old man told his story]...then he continued…
"...This morning, I was sitting in my den crying out loud. I miss her so much. For the last sixteen years, as her health got worse, she needed me. But now nobody needs me anymore. This morning as I cried, I asked myself 'Who needs an 86-year-old worn-out man?' Nobody!"
[He began to sob, and he tried hard to muffle the sound]…
Then he said: "Nobody needs me!'"
[More sobs...then, he continued his story]…
"About that time, you knocked, and said, 'Sir, I need you!'...for some reason, your words so stunned me that, I asked you, 'Are you an angel?'…
[I assured him I was no angel]...
The days and weeks were loaded with responsibilities -- so many details, so many bills within such a short time.
My son Jack promised he would walk his younger sister down the aisle in their dad's place; he died a few years earlier. Jack teased Patsy saying he'd wanted to give her away since she was about three years old!
To save money, I gathered blossoms from several friends who had large magnolia trees. The luscious, creamy-white blooms and slick green leaves would make beautiful arrangements against the rich dark wood inside the church.
Finally, the big day arrived. While the bridesmaids helped Patsy to dress, her fiancé Tim walked with me to the sanctuary to do a final check.
When we opened the door, I felt a rush of hot air, I almost fainted. And then I saw them - all the beautiful white magnolias which I gathered from friends' trees in my hometown were all black -- funeral black! An electrical storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system in the church, and in the heat of the summer night, the flowers all wilted and died.
I started to panic. I knew I didn't have time to drive back to my hometown to gather more flowers, and return in time for the wedding, and I certainly didn't have the extra money to buy flowers from the florist in town.
My prospective son-in-law turned to me and asked "Can you get more flowers? I'll throw away these dead ones and put fresh flowers in these arrangements."
As he walked down the hall, I mumbled, "Sure."
Now alone in the large sanctuary, I looked up at the dark wooden beams in the arched ceiling and prayed, '"Lord, please help me. I don't know anyone in this town. Help me find someone willing to give me flowers in a hurry!"
I scurried out praying for a miracle to happen. As I left the church, I saw in the distance a house with many magnolia trees in bloom.
I hurriedly approached the house. With no dog in sight, I ran and knocked on the door. An older man answered the door. So far so good. No shotgun. When I told him my story, the man beamed and said, "I'd be happy to!"
He got a stepladder, climbed up, and cut large boughs of beautiful magnolias which he handed down to me.
Minutes later, as I lifted the last armload of magnolias into my car trunk, I told him, "Sir, you've made the mother of a bride happy today!"
‘No, Ma'am,' he retorted, 'You made me very happy today!"
"How can that be?" I asked.
"I know you don't know me and what just happened to me. You see, my wife of sixty-seven years died just last Monday. On Tuesday I received friends at the funeral home, and on Wednesday..."
[He paused. I saw tears welling up in his eyes]…
"...I buried her."
[He looked away]…
"...On Thursday, most of my out-of-town relatives went back home, and on Friday, yesterday, my children left."
[I just stood quietly as the old man told his story]...then he continued…
"...This morning, I was sitting in my den crying out loud. I miss her so much. For the last sixteen years, as her health got worse, she needed me. But now nobody needs me anymore. This morning as I cried, I asked myself 'Who needs an 86-year-old worn-out man?' Nobody!"
[He began to sob, and he tried hard to muffle the sound]…
Then he said: "Nobody needs me!'"
[More sobs...then, he continued his story]…
"About that time, you knocked, and said, 'Sir, I need you!'...for some reason, your words so stunned me that, I asked you, 'Are you an angel?'…
[I assured him I was no angel]...
Now, with a slight smile, he asked me, "...Do you know what I was thinking when I handed you those magnolias?"
"No."
"I felt like I'm needed after all. My flowers are needed. Why, I might start my own flower ministry! I could give them to everyone! Some caskets at the funeral home have no flowers. People need flowers at times like that and I have lots of them. They're all over my backyard! I can give them to hospitals, churches - all sorts of places. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to serve the Lord until the day He calls me home!"
I drove back to the church filled with wonder.
If anyone had asked me that day to encourage someone who was hurting, I most likely would have said, 'Forget it! It's my only daughter's wedding, for goodness sake! There is no way I can minister to anyone today."
But God found a way...through dead flowers.
When problems pour, many of us think that life is not the way it's supposed to be. But after that experience on my daughter's wedding day, I see that life is meant to be the way it is. The difference is in the way you and I cope with problems.
Let me just say, for people who don't know me -- my story means nothing, and I have to grant, you have actually missed nothing.
But if you have missed knowing God -- you have missed everything worthwhile in this life because a life without God is like an unsharpened pencil...there is no point in it!
May God's richest blessings be upon you.
-Author Unknown
"No."
"I felt like I'm needed after all. My flowers are needed. Why, I might start my own flower ministry! I could give them to everyone! Some caskets at the funeral home have no flowers. People need flowers at times like that and I have lots of them. They're all over my backyard! I can give them to hospitals, churches - all sorts of places. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to serve the Lord until the day He calls me home!"
I drove back to the church filled with wonder.
If anyone had asked me that day to encourage someone who was hurting, I most likely would have said, 'Forget it! It's my only daughter's wedding, for goodness sake! There is no way I can minister to anyone today."
But God found a way...through dead flowers.
When problems pour, many of us think that life is not the way it's supposed to be. But after that experience on my daughter's wedding day, I see that life is meant to be the way it is. The difference is in the way you and I cope with problems.
Let me just say, for people who don't know me -- my story means nothing, and I have to grant, you have actually missed nothing.
But if you have missed knowing God -- you have missed everything worthwhile in this life because a life without God is like an unsharpened pencil...there is no point in it!
May God's richest blessings be upon you.
-Author Unknown
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