Skip to main content

A tale of two houses

For many years an elderly lady in our neighborhood was noted for her beautiful tulip garden, Just passing by the colorful display made the heart want to sing; her garden represented earth_s beauty at its best. Next door to her was the unkept home of an old bachelor. His fence was battered and broken, weeds shot up everywhere, and the paint was peeling. Such extremes of appearance, it seems, could not coexist for long. Neighbors wondered why the elderly lady didn_t complain or make a phone call to city officials. Yet no confrontation ever occurred. The beautiful tulip garden and the messy yard remained the same year after year. But this spring an odd thing happened. As I drove down the street, I was surprised to see a few brilliantly colored rows of tulips in front of the old man_s house. The rest of the yard still looked like a disaster, but those new, gorgeous tulips stood out. Curious, I stopped my car and walked up to the lady_s home. She was outside weeding her flowers. "Hello!" I greeted her. "I_ve always admired your beautiful tulips." "Well, thank you," she said, smiling in a way that made those gray-blue eyes of hers twinkle. "If you_ll wait a minute, I_ll cut some for you to take home. They don_t last long, mind you, but they sure brighten up a room!" Within a few minutes, she had cut a dozen gorgeous blooms for me. I thanked her and then said, "I noticed your neighbor planted tulips, too." "Oh, no," she said, winking at me. "I planted those for Mr. James. He lost his wife a few years ago, and his children have all grown and moved faraway. He lives such a bitter, lonely life," she sighed. "I call that my plot of hope." "A plot of hope?" I asked, not sure what she meant. "Yes, to give him back the hope that his own home can be beautiful again, that there is still goodness in life, and to let him know that God loves him just as much as He loves me." I clutched my bouquet of tulips and left that garden feeling I had learned much more about the meaning of brotherly love. Dear Lord, remind me that handling a matter wisely is to do so with kindness. Let me offer hope instead of criticism. Amen
He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he. Proverbs 16:20

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A book I read

The book is titled "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck and is a true story of a farmer in China before the revolution. This farmer was a poor man and he married a slave girl...not beautiful/ugly.. because this was the best he would do then. But eventually he became a rich man. In the process his wife was faithful and hardworking and having been a slave in a rich house knew many things of life at a higher standard in society. But she worked hard with the poor farmer while he became rich...they had to go through a terrible famine with four children and she was faithful to him all along. But eventually when the farmer became rich he came across a new thing in life... such as visiting tea shops with harlots. He fell in love with a beautiful harlot and then he started noticing that his wife is ugly. He even married the harlot and brought her home offering her a better standard of life. The first wife was heart broken and she cried saying she had borne him sons...even though the terr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Anvil Time

On God's anvil. Perhaps you've been there. Melted down. Formless. Undone. Placed on the anvil for ... reshaping? I know. I've been on it. It's rough. It's a spiritual slump, a famine. The fire goes out. Although the fire may flame for a moment, it soon disappears. We drift downward. Downward into the foggy valley of question, the misty lowland of discouragement. Motivation wanes. Desire is distant. Responsibilities are depressing. Passion? It slips out the door. Enthusiasm? Are you kidding? Anvil time. It can be caused by a death, a breakup, going broke, going prayerless. The light switch is flipped off and the room darkens. "All the thoughtful words of help and hope have all been nicely said. But I'm still hurting, wondering..." On the anvil. Brought face-to-face with God out of the utter realization that we have nowhere else to go. Jesus in the garden. Peter with a tear-streaked face. David after Bathsheba. Elijah and the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Defintions of Love

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year olds. "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. 1. When my grandma got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toe nails anymore. So my grandpa does it for her now all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love. Rebecca - age 8 2. When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouths.Billy - age 4 3. Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving Cologne and they go out and smell each other. Kari - age 5 4. Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs. Chrissy - age 6 5. Love is what makes you smile when you're tired. Terri - age 4 6. Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to mak...
1 comment
Read more