I'm sure
your summer schedule is filling up quickly, as mine is. I will be out of town 4
days this month serving in a college kitchen feeding teens being trained as
summer missionaries to children, and am working hard to submit my second cookbook
for publishing. This wedding story seemed appropriate for this month. May it
encourage you to be reminded that we are all needed, by someone, somewhere. Enjoy
your summer!
MAGNOLIAS - Author Edna Ellison - Chicken Soup for the Christian
Soul
I was
getting ready for my daughter June's wedding which was taking place in a church
about forty miles away, and felt loaded with responsibilities as I watched my
budget dwindle...So many details, so many bills, and so little time.
My
son Jack said he would walk his younger sister down the aisle, taking the place
of his dad who had died a few years before. He teased Patsy, saying he'd wanted to
give her away since she was about three years old!
To save money, I
gathered blossoms from several friends who had large magnolia trees. Their
luscious, creamy - white blooms and slick green leaves would make beautiful
arrangements against the rich dark wood inside the church.
The big day
arrived-the busiest day of my life - and while her bridesmaids helped Patsy to
dress, her fiancé Tim walked with me to the sanctuary to do a final check. When
we opened the door and felt a rush of hot air, I almost fainted; and then I saw
them - all the beautiful white flowers were black. Funeral black. An electrical
storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system, and on that
hot summer day, the flowers had wilted and died.
I panicked, knowing I
didn't have time to drive back to our hometown, gather more flowers, and return in
time for the wedding and I certainly didn't have extra money to buy a new set
from the florist in town.
Tim turned to me. 'Edna, can you get more
flowers? I'll throw away these dead ones and put fresh flowers in these
arrangements. 'I mumbled, 'Sure,' as he be-bopped down the hall to put on his cuff
links.
Alone in the large sanctuary, I looked up at the dark wooden beams
in the arched ceiling. 'Lord,' I prayed,' please help me. I don't know anyone in
this town.Help me find someone willing to give me flowers - in a hurry! 'I scurried
out praying for the blessing of white magnolias.
As I left the church, I
saw magnolia trees in the distance. I approached a house...no dog in
sight..knocked on the door and an older man answered. So far so good. No
shotgun. When I stated my plea the man beamed and said...'I'd be happy
to!'
He climbed a stepladder and cut large boughs and handed them down
to me. Minutes later, as I lifted the last armload into my car trunk, I said, 'Sir,
you've made the mother of a bride happy today.'
No, Ma'am,' he said. 'You
don't understand what's happening here.'
'What?' I asked.
'You
see, my wife of sixty-seven years died on Monday. On Tuesday I received friends at
the funeral home, and on Wednesday.....He paused. I saw tears welling up in
his eyes. 'On Wednesday I buried her.' He looked away. 'On Thursday most of my
out-of-town relatives went back home, and on Friday - yesterday - my children
left.'
I nodded.
'This morning,' he continued, 'I was sitting in
my den crying out loud. I miss her so much. For the last sixteen years, as her
health got worse, she needed me. But now nobody needs me. This morning I cried, 'Who
needs an eighty-six-year-old wore-out man? Nobody!' I began to cry louder. 'Nobody
needs me!'
About that time, you knocked, and said, 'Sir, I need
you.'
I stood with my mouth open. He asked, 'Are you an angel? I assured
him I was no angel.
He smiled. 'Do you know what I was thinking when I
handed you those magnolias?'
'No.'
'I decided I'm needed. My
flowers are needed. Why,I might have a flower ministry! I could give them to
everyone! Some caskets at the funeral home have no flowers. People need flowers at
times like that and I have lots of them. They're all over the backyard! I can give
them to hospitals, churches - all sorts of places. You know what I'm going to do? I'm
going to serve the Lord until the day He calls me home!'
I drove back to
the church, filled with wonder. On Patsy's wedding day, if anyone had asked me to
encourage someone who was hurting, I would have said, 'Forget it! It's my only
daughter's wedding, for goodness sake! There is no way I can minister to anyone
today.'
But God found a way. Through dead flowers. 'Life is not the way
it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes
the difference.'
This recipe for preserving fresh cut flowers, found at www.thekitchn.com has proven
to be amazing. I was impressed at how long the peonies kept on my
countertop! Try these tips for keeping your
flowers looking fresher longer.
• Make homemade plant food: Flowers need
food, water,and a clean environment. So their water should have a little food, like
sugar, and some bleach to slow fungi and bacteria growth. Here's a basic home recipe: Mix together 2 c.water, 1 Tb. lemon
juice, 1-1/2 tsp. sugar and 1/4 teaspoon bleach.
• Trim stems: You want to open the stems up to the
water, so cut off the dried bottoms at an angle to let them take up as much water
as possible. Trim the ends every three or four days to keep them fresh
longer.
• Remove leaves: Leaves left on the stems below the
water level will quickly deteriorate and promote mold. Remove all leaves from the
stems below the waterline.
