I recommend taking a minute to read this very good story.  I received in today's mail and wanted to share it with you. 

 
Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes when she pulled open the florist shop door, against a November gust of wind. Her life had been as sweet as a spring breeze and then, in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a "minor" automobile accident stole her joy. This was Thanksgiving week and the time she should have delivered their infant son. She grieved over their loss.
 
Troubles had multiplied.
 
Her husband's company "threatened" to transfer his job to a new location. Her sister had called to say that she could not come for her long awaited holiday visit. What's worse, Sandra's friend suggested that Sandra's grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder. "Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered. "For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life, but took her child's?"
 
"Good afternoon, can I help you?"

Sandra was startled by the approach of the shop clerk. "I . . I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.
 
"For Thanksgiving? I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?"
 
"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong."
 
Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."
 
Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk greeted the new customer,
 
"Hi, Barbara, let me get your order." She excused herself and walked back to a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and what appeared to be long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped: there were no flowers.
 
"Do you want these in a box?" asked the clerk. Sandra watched - was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed.
 
"Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said, as she gently tapped her chest.
 
Sandra stammered, "Ah, that lady just left with . . . uh . . .. she left with no flowers!"
 
"That's right," said the clerk. "I cut off the flowers. That's the 'Special'. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet. Barbara came into the shop three years ago, feeling much as you do today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had just lost her father to cancer; the family business was failing; her son had gotten into drugs; and she was facing major surgery. That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk. "For the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too much debt to allow any travel."
 
"So what did you do?" asked Sandra.
 

"I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for the good things in my life and I never questioned Him why those good things happened to me, but when the bad stuff hit, I cried out, 'Why? Why me?!' It took time for me to learn that the dark times are important to our faith! I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of my life, but it took the thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort! You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."

 
Sandra sucked in her breath, as she thought about what her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God"
 
Just then someone else walked in the shop.
 
"Hey, Phil!" the clerk greeted the balding, rotund man.
 
"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement . . twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.
 
"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind telling me why she wants a bouquet that looks like that?"
 
"Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced," Phil replied. "After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we trudged through problem after problem, the Lord rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she had learned from "thorny" times. That was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught us."
 
As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!"
 
"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life" Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too . . . fresh."
 
"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that the thorns make the roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember that it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns."
 
Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on her resentment.
 
"I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.
 
"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute."
 
"Thank you. What do I owe you?"
 
"Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me."
 
The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first."
 
It read:
 
"My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant."

PALM SUNDAY

March 16, 2008

My youngest brother was born today and because he was born on 3-16, my father called him Jon for John 3:16 which says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall have eternal life."

Ten years ago, today, my grand daughter was born on my brother's birthday.  My daughter and son-in-law named her Faith.

For many Christian churches, Palm Sunday, often referred to as "Passion Sunday," marks the beginning of Holy Week, which concludes on Easter Sunday.  This year, the Holy Week begins on 3-16. 

Most of Jesus' ministry had been outside Jerusalem.  On Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, Israel's capitol city, the crowds gathered to meet Jesus and His entourage by covering His path with palm branches and flowers and waving palm branches, shouting, "Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest."  They greeted Him as the long-awaited Messiah, shouting, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!"  

The Jewish leaders of the day had tolerated Jesus' ministry, some even saying that He was a "good man", but here Jesus was in their capitol city being proclaimed the Messiah by the Jewish people!  Today, it would be like a man entering Washington D.C. and being greeted like a rock star with the crowds proclaiming Him King of The United States!  The leaders today would probably react very similar to the way the leaders did then.  They were not going to allow this son of a carpenter to have the power of a King!

Palm Sunday was the high point of Jesus ministry, but immediately following this great time of celebration in the ministry of Jesus, He began His journey to the cross.

You can read more about Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the first communion, Judas' betrayal, Jesus arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus political and religious trial and crucifixion in the Bible.  The biblical account of Palm Sunday can be found in Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; and John 12:12-19.

For me, this year is even more personal than it usually is.  My brother's birthday, my grand daughter's birthday, the significance of John 3:16 and Faith's own name ... but this will be the only time in their lifetime when their birthdays will fall on Palm Sunday.  The last time was 1913 and the next time will be in 2228.
 

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people use to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.
Based on this, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare.
Only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!).
And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!
Here are the facts:
* The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now).
* The last time it was this early was 1913
* The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now).
* The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.
So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!


"Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest."
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Okay ... I couldn't resist!
Life doesn't always have to be so serious!

Biggie T gave us the idea by introducing us to automotivator:
automotivator
Whispered Promise encouraged us to try it too.
So I did!


Then I wondered what would happen if
I used my own pictures?





Wouldn't this be a neat way to frame our pictures?
Thanks BIGGIE T !!!