Beautiful Roses

These lovely roses came from my overgrown and weed infested bushes.  They looked terrible, sad, and uncared for. Until I went outside, untangled them from the fence and weeds.  Then shook all the pincher bugs off of them into my garbage disposal, washed them up and now look how pretty they are. I could see through the weeds the beauty of these flowers.

I was told by a therapist once that my life was like an overgrown garden full of tangled weeds. Somewhere in there my heart was protected in a way that this beautiful flower could grow.  When I was pulling these roses from those weeds I thought, for the first time in 20 years what that therapist must have meant and my  head swelled just a little.  These flowers have had me thinking all week about how our lives truly are made beautiful through the redeeming grace of God.

If I just posted the lovely picture of my roses and said "aren't they lovely?" you would look at them today.  Beautiful, and maybe even think that Elizabeth is an expert at gardening.  You see the beauty after all the ugly is taken away.  If it were not late (11:20pm) while I am writing this I would go outside right now and take a picture of that ugly.  If we only see the beauty, and never know the ugly our story is so very different isn't it.

I was enjoying a lovely visit with a young gal.  She is beautiful both inside and out. Over the past couple of years I have learned more about her life.  I love her heart  and how she loves Jesus and loves and serves others.  She dropped a huge bomb, or so she thought, on me.  She shared some early times in her life.  Tangled in thorns.  As she was talking I could not help but think about those lovely roses sitting on my kitchen table. Thinking of knowing her as I see her today.  God protecting his beautiful little girl's heart and pulling her from those tangled weeds, that today those who know her see this beauty of a gal. I see this beautiful gal. Her story did not change anything.

She told me that sometimes when she shares some of her story from her past it does change how she is viewed. As if there is this imaginary line that is placed between them and her because she got tangled up in the world and they did not.  I took her precious hand and with tears told her that God does not see a line, nor do I.  She is just as beautiful and precious in His eyes today as she was in those tangles.  Those roses in my overgrown yard, trapped and overrun were not cared for. Nor was she, and yet God removed her from that place, removed me from that place and shines His grace and love.

Thank You Lord Jesus that You truly do make all things beautiful.  Thanks for the blessing of these lovely roses, a reminder this week to the beauty of the Cross in my life.