Dear Reader:

Don’t you love Gerber Daisies? Their beautiful little smiling faces just make you smile walking by. Over the years I have planted more and more of them and this year I am reaping the rewards for the earlier plantings.

I have dozens of Gerber Daisies ‘resurrecting’ themselves this year….they seem to be popping up everywhere. All I have to do is lift some Gerber leaves and there is the next crop, all curled up and just waiting to unwind to face the sun.

Gerber Daisies seem a little more spiritual to me than some of the other plants in simply the process selected to bloom from its buds. It begins in a almost human curled-up fetus position, and then slowly unwinds until right before blooming….

… It is then that they face downward, as if giving thanks and paying homage to their Creator one last time, before raising their heads and producing  beautiful smiles full of sheer happiness and joy at the gift of life..

Don’t you think we can take a lesson from the Gerber Daisy? If we took time each day to pay homage to our Creator, bow before Him. thank Him..wouldn’t our own lives  be brighter and filled with more joy.

When I came across this story while researching Gerber Daisies…I knew God was helping me make the link…the connection between flowers and humans…and what a wonderful connection it is. *Thanks God for helping out while your servant feels little under the weather.

 Facing the Sun….Facing the Son

(Anecdote by Pastor James Moore)

Pastor James Moore of Houston, Texas tells the story of a young man whose wife died, leaving him with a small son to raise alone. After a beautiful and moving memorial service, the young man and his son returned home from the cemetery.

Family and friends had all gone home. The man was lost. Numb with grief, he decided he and his son would go to bed early because there was nothing else he could bear to do.

After tucking the little boy into bed, the young father laid in the darkness – heartbroken and weeping – wondering how he could go on without his wife beside him. The voice of his son broke through the darkness with a haunting question, “Daddy, where is Mommy?”

The father could not speak. He simply got up and brought the little boy to bed with him. The child could not fall asleep. He was confused by the day’s events. Although he did not really understand all that had happened, the child knew something was very wrong. He tossed and turned, disturbed and restless, occasionally asking questions like “Why isn’t she here?” and “When is she coming back?”

When the weary father had run out of answers and the anxious little boy had run out of questions, he finally said, “Daddy, if your face is toward me, I think I can go to sleep.” The father turned toward his son, wrapped his arms tightly around him, and asked God to strengthen them both for the days ahead. In just moments, the little boy grew quiet and was soon fast asleep.

The father lay there in the darkness for a while, staring into the beautiful face of his son. A new resolve took root. It was just a tiny broken seed, but that is all faith requires when placed in the hands of God.

So in childlike faith, the shattered and desperate young man cried out to God, “Father, I don’t see how I can survive this. The pain is just too much, Lord! The future looks so lonely and so miserable. But God, if your face is toward me, I think I can make it.”

………………….

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus

So until tomorrow…May we replace our inner fears and insecurities with the peace of understanding that only comes through God

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh