"It's alright. Let her keep them."

May 13, 2015

It was a lovely gesture; this giving of a flower to my Mom, on Mother’s Day.  There were half a dozen to choose from: blushing pinks, subtle yellows and flashy reds. Most, if not all of the moms had been in the morning church service, but we went in the evening, as I had been at work earlier in the day.   As Pastor Pernell presented the vase to Mom, for her to choose a flower, she just took the entire vase into her hands and said, ever so graciously and so happily: “Thank you.”

A moment I will not soon forget, I felt heat climbing up towards my face.  I tried to explain to Mom that she was to choose one.  Thankfully she did not hear me, with her nose in the sweet bouquet; nor did she hear the answer to my unspoken question:   ”It’s alright; let her keep them.” 

Even now, I have tears in my eyes.  Mom was blushing, and her cheeks matched the hue of the flower in her hand.  I could hear church family smiling; no, they were not laughing at her, they were smiling.  Incredible to me, that we could all share in that precious moment; it felt like a foretaste of heaven, and I am so very thankful.  Oh, the kindness of the Lord, not to let me spoil it with a feeling of embarrassment; there was no shame to bear and only love to be seen and heard.

Over the next few months, I hope to focus my heart and my mind on the fruit of the Spirit, giving a month of meditation for each one, in the order in which Paul has written:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law.”  (Galatians 5:22, 23)

How timely it is that May, this month of new beginnings, has love as its focus.