There's a rose bush in our garden that I've affectionately dubbed the "Lulu Bush." It doesn't produce a lot of flowers, but the ones that do blossom are extraordinarily beautiful.
There's now a new "push on the bush" for blossoms, with innumerable buds almost ready to give it a try. Will they make it? Time will tell.
Whatever the outcome for the rose buds, Lulu gives us something to ponder, spiritually speaking. There are a few times in our life during which we can become extraordinarily beautiful, in terms of our willingness to love both God and man as He would have us do.
Whether or not we do so is totally up to us. God is our Gardener, our Waterer who feeds and cares for us, so that we might blossom to our fullest capabilities.
If our buds fall short, it's not because the Gardener took a week or two off; rather, it's because we've decided not to blossom.
If we're attuned to the Lord, we'll set aside fears, worldly anxieties, past experiences and the like, and get on with being what God calls us to be - bright, shining and beautiful examples of what it is to be God's child in Christ Jesus.
We give thee thanks, O Lord, for Lulu's beauty, and for giving us things to ponder through the beautifulness of one of your creations!
