Yesterday afternoon my dear friend Lisa came (with her caravan of little one's) to the place where I was gardening. Her six little passengers sprang from the Suburban and took off running to the field for ball, and we headed to the gardens to mulch. Conversation is never slow, and off we chattered about the happenings in our lives. Lisa tells fantastic stories and always teaches me new words; last night her words filled my ears and heart with such a sweetness that I must share. She found this story in a little booklet called the "Fish Catcher" while she was at Farmer's Market, and in short, here it is...

A widowed mother was to wed her only daughter, and preceding the event she took meticulous care to all of the details for her daughter's day. She had prepared magnolia bouquets and spreads for the church, and at the end of the wedding's eve, she closed the doors and beamed on the beauty of the radiant display.

The next morning she hopefully entered the church to find withered, sagging, and black flowers adorning the halls. The power had gone out the night before, the air conditioner thus stopped, and the closed windows suffocated the delicate flowers. Despairing, the mom panicked and fled the church. Where could she find replacement magnolias on the day of her daughters wedding? She drove through the neighborhood in a frenzy, asking God why He'd done this to them on this day... Halting, she spied a lawn full of blooming plants. She ran up the steps, pounded on the door and yelled in tears "I need you!"

Inside the front room was an 86 year old man who had been holding his head in his hands crying at the loss of his wife. On Monday she'd died, Wednesday they had her viewing, Thursday they buried her and today he sat in lonely despair asking God who could possibly find need for an old man like him. The abrupt knock on his door shocked him out of his sorrow, and the words "I need you" cut right through him. He responded in complete awe - "you do?" She explained her dilemma, and he his, and the two revelled and were blessed by the intimate care of the God who heard them. To think that God could ordain a power outage just so this woman could carry hope to this man? Amazing. The man worshiped God for the life He'd given, and decided that day that he'd use the beauty of his flowers to bless those in need for funerals, weddings, and other events that couldn't be afforded. The man realized the value of his numbered days, and went on in praise of His Sustainer.

It did my heart tremendous good to hear this wonderful story and be reminded of my God's intimate care over my life and all of His creation. "16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!" Glory be to God!



I pray you are blessed by this, despite the holes and lacking details of this wonderful tale...