Thought Provoking Flowers

I am just getting to blog now at 9 PM and I really don’t know what to say...

It’s been a long day in some ways, emotionally heavy I’d say. Along with the blessing of delivering flowers for Mother’s Day and getting to experience, surprise, joy, and appreciation of the moms, I came up against some tough life situations.

Our first delivery was for three residents of a rehab and assisted living facility. Great – children sending flowers that will light up their mothers’ lives in what can be a dreary, cold environment. Turns out one of the moms was an independent living resident, and yesterday she left for hospice. Living independently one day, in hospice the next. That hit me like a ton of bricks. The receptionist was able to track which hospice this woman had been admitted to and we were able to deliver the flowers, an accomplishment I was most glad of considering this woman’s circumstances.

Some of our other deliveries took us through the poorer neighborhoods of the area. We delivered a large vase of beautiful roses to a woman not much older than myself. As she was disabled with arthritis, it took her a little longer to come to the front door, allowing me more time to breathe in the not-so-pleasant smell. In slowly handing her the heavy vase, I noticed there was no air conditioning (it was 96 degrees outside) and got a peek at her living space – a torn up sofa bed came into view. I was uplifted to see she had a pooch.

Thinking of how much her child must have spent on the Mother’s Day bouquet, I couldn’t help but think that the money could have been put to much greater use to improve this woman’s daily life. But who am I to say? Perhaps such a special gift was a far greater delight to this mom’s heart and soul than getting help cleaning her home, receiving better health care, or upgrading her furniture. Perhaps I was looking too much at the physical and not enough at the spiritual side...

Fresh flowers are wonderfully uplifting. They can temporarily take our mind off the troubles of the day and focus on the beauty around us. May 4th’s blog was about today’s upcoming adventure to earn some money in a different way and was entitled “A Bouquet of Blessings”. Who knew it would also give me such a glimpse of others’ life situations and provide much food for thought...

I’ve much to think about my own current life situation too. If I view mine and others without putting Spirit in the formula, I am sunk. God came through in the children who were thinking of their moms and they conveyed that through their gift of flowers. And, God was in each and every flower delivered. God was present in the joy expressed and in the heart of each mom. God was with each person whether they were aware of It or not, whatever their circumstances. There’s a message here for me.

May I remember that God is always with me wherever I go, whatever I am going through, and wherever I am headed. I choose to remember this is so and am uplifted and at peace immediately.