Roses have thorns

Turkey is the order of the day. Dottie along with the help of other staff will bake over 30 turkeys over the next 2 weeks.

We continue to work on Christmas with normal gifts like soccer balls & bath towels.

Dottie has always loved roses and so over the years I have grown to love them also. But they have thorns. You just cannot walk into a rose garden and pick roses like you would do in a cotton field while picking cotton. Why do roses have thorns? I suppose that God wants you and I to realize that everything we have is a gift from God. But it came about through pain and suffering.

When Adam and Eve sinned back in the Garden of Eden they were inviting THORNS into their world. Therefore pain was man’s choice. God promised man prosperity with blessings and joy. Man sinned—thorns came–and when our Savior went to the cross He woed a crown of THORNS–not roses. This was to remind us of how our salvation caused His suffering.

From the death of Jesus eternal life bloomed for you and me. The thorns remind us of what Christ went through on the cross. Roses bloom for anyone who has accepted Jesus as Cavior. The thorns remind us of the pain Jesus suffered on our behalf. Our salvation was pain-bought.

A few months ago we were trying to uproot a large palm tree with 14 to 18 inch thorns. One thorn pierced my finger and for 4 months the pain was terrible. I finally had surgery on the finger and the pieces of thorn the physciian removed were incredible. In my finger!! Not in my brow!! Jesus had those thorns in His head.

I had a happy childhood. It was not perfect simply because no one has a perfect childhood. It had it’s share of pain. My father’s accident left him crippled. The early death of my grandfather who was the second most important person in my life–only my father was more important–caused me such grief.

Pain continued even after I was saved and married. The death of our only three natural children cannot be described. But everyone has their sad tale to share. With the thorns I have had more roses than any man deserves.

But God tells us that rain falls on the good and the bad. Everyone is born into a life where there are thorns in their roses. How will be handle the pain?

Stay tuned!!