The Bouquet (08/05/2026)

I love flowers in my home. People who know me know that. Flowers are visual reminders to me of beauty of the LORD’s divine design and the intricacies of the power and presence of the LORD in our lives and our world. When I look at a flower, I am filled with wonder. And when I get flowers, it brightens not just the room in which they are displayed but my being. And so, when my daughter brought me a bouquet yesterday it truly illuminated my space and me.

The bouquet was actually from her and from her sister and brother. Every month my three children treat me to a bouquet as part of their birthday gift to me that is meant to last all year long. As I stood and arranged the flowers in a special vase, I was reminded that I am loved. It was a joyful moment.

The bouquet brought joy every time I looked at it yester. And it still does today. It remind me of the goodness in others who are willing to use their time and energy and resources for me. The flowers remind me of the LORD’s goodness at the heart of all loving goodness. They remind me that I am anything but alone in this world, in this life. They remind me that I, too, am part of the LORD’s divine design and that I need to bloom as the LORD desires with the LORD’s grace and my cooperation. So many gifts from one gift.

St. Augustine said, “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” As I sit this morning and look at the beautiful bouquet my children gave me on Tuesday, I promise the LORD that I will open myself more fully to the good things; I promise that I will put down the non-essential so there is room for what the LORD wants me to have and hold.

The LORD writes straight with crooked lines. A seemingly simple gift opens me to a myriad of realizations about my life and my journey and the assurance that the LORD is with me. I thank for the LORD for the gift of family and the lives and loves of each member. I thank the LORD for goodness and kindness shown to me through the actions of others. I thank the LORD for the beauty of creation and my role in the world. I open myself to the LORD’s love like a flower to the sun.

As we continue our journeys in faith, hope and love let us take time to put down the non-essentials to make room for the good things the LORD is trying to give to us. Let us commit to cooperating with the LORD’s desire for us and for our world. Let us resolve to lovingly use what is at hand to bring the LORD’s transformative love to others. Let us pray that we might be the ones the LORD created us to be, blooming in our place in this world.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.