In
thinking about a title for this post, the Gilbert and Sullivan ditty from “The
Mikado” came to mind—“The flowers that bloom in the spring, tra-la, breathe
promise of merry sunshine.” We have
had enough moisture plus warm days to bring out the blooms in my front flower
garden. The irises appear to be blooming their utmost and before those buds
appeared. the tulips did their thing.
The
earliest tulips were a cheerful, bright red-orange. But I had a pleasant surprise after
our last snow-rain to see two sturdy tulips, this time in a cool lavender
hue. They lasted for a week on my dining room table and you can see by the
second photograph, the sad demise of the first one.
My
friend/accountability partner and I are memorizing Psalm 103 and verses 15 and
16 came up to be memorized about the time my tulips bloomed and then slowly
died. The verses read as follows: “As for man, his days are like grass, he
flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.” (NIV)
The
lesson I got from my tulips along with the verses we were memorizing is this:
1)
I know my next breath isn’t guaranteed, so I
need to cooperate with the Lord in the way I use each of the remaining minutes
He allows.
2)
I
don’t know how long my family and friends are going to be left on this planet
so I need to let them know I love and appreciate them. And see that I do that
more than once a yearJ
Obviously
there are verses surrounding the ones I mentioned above and the psalmist (and
God) doesn’t leave us on a negative note as we can see in verse 17 of Psalm
103: “But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who
fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—“
My
flowers give me joy and I can thank the Lord for them. You, my friends and
family also give me joy and I love you. May I ever be aware of opportunities to
say so and thank the Lord for you.
