Can you believe that Thanksgiving is only three weeks away.  I feel like summer just zipped by and here we are into fall.Thinking about Thanksgiving reminded me of a story that a dear friend emailed me when we first opened our boutique.  I loved that story.  In a nutshell it goes like this: 

A customer ,Jenny,stopped in a local florist shop to buy an arrangement for thanksgiving. She had no idea what she wanted and she really did not feel like celebrating thanksgiving as there were so many tragedies in her life lately that being thankful was the furthest thing on her mind.  While proceeding to order the flowers the florist asked her about the type of arrangement's she would like.  She stated that she strongly believes that flowers can tell a story and that each arrangement  portrays a particular feeling. " Were you looking for something that convey's gratitude this Thanksgiving?  Jenny blurted out "absolutly not!" Apologizing for her outburst she explained that nothing has gone right in the last five months. 

The florist then stated that she had the perfect arrangement for her.. Just at this moment a regular customer came in to pick up her order. The florist excused herself and retrieved a massive arrangement of green bows and long-stemmed thorny roses only the ends of the stems were neatly snipped off and no roses. Jenny thought this was a joke but she heard no laughter. The florist was thanked profusely for the lovely arrangement that she had created again this year.

As the customer left Jenny asked the florist about the significance of that particular arrangement. The florist explained that that was the Thanksgiving special. Jenny could not believe anyone would pay for that.  The florist then explained the signifigance of that arrangement .  Three years ago her husband had passed away, her father was battling cancer, her son was into drugs. She had to assume all the responsibility for the shop for the first time and she had to spend the holiday alone. She had no children, no husband, no family nearby and to great a debt to travel.  Jenny asked her "what did you do"  The florist replied " I learned to be thankful for the thorns." 

At this  Jenny was confused. The florist continued to explain.... She had always been thankful for the good things in life , always enjoyed the flowers of life but it took the thorns to show her the beauty of God's comfort. Because of the thorns we treasure the roses.It makes them that much more precious. So now every time we  see a rose we remember to appreciate the good times and the hard times, as we grow through both and become stronger for it.

With that Jenny ordered her own  Thanksgiving Thorn Bouquet with a pledge to work on healing her heart. With that the florist encouraged her and said the first years arrangement is always free.

I love that story . It portrays so many things that we can all be thankful for because it all makes us who we are today.

Happy Thanksgiving

Written by Lilo Kallai — September 17, 2012

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