I Believe

It was a dreadful day.  One of the worst in my memory.  This is the kind of story that happens in other neighborhoods.  To other people.  Not people we know and care about.

At the end of the day one family’s darling lay dead and the favorite neighborhood babysitter  was taken away.  How could this happen?  There must be some mistake.

Two families were devastated.  They lived on the same street.  They were the best of friends. Their lives would never be the same.  We shared their pain, though their pain was unimaginable.  We ached to make things better, but there was no better.

Some days later, I found myself puzzling over the flat of petunias on my doorstep.  I had bought them, but why?  Petunias are not my favorite flower.  They’re fine in other people’s yards, but I never choose them for mine.

At the nursery those very petunias had seduced me with their charm.  They had smiled at me hopefully.  “Take me home,” they said, and I obeyed.

Standing on my doorstep, I shook my head at the innocent looking petunias and wondered, “What are you doing here?”  They smiled seductively but remained silent.

What was I thinking?”   I tried to clear my head.  “I don’t even like petunias.”

At that moment I heard a quiet voice in my head, “It’s all right.  Those petunias are not for you.”

“Not for me? Then who are they for?”

“Someone who’s in pain,” came the answer.

Moments later, my children and I put the petunias in our red wagon and walked to our neighbors homes one at a time.  We did the planting.  Half the flowers were planting in one neighbor’s yard and half in another. 

Neither of those families lives in our neighborhood anymore, but I thought of them today when I saw someone buying petunias.  I wonder how they are.  I wonder about their broken hearts.

I am not capable of healing hearts, but I know someone who is.  I hope that they have reached out to Him in faith. 

“My Grace is Sufficient“ He said.   I believe.

Linda Garner