Hope Filled Living

Choosing Hope and Cultivating an Inspired Life with Author, Mary Clewley

A Wilted Spirit and Roses

by


It is getting cold here in Michigan, so I brought in some of my potted roses to weather the winter with us inside. While trimming the leaves and dead foliage, I was reminded that many of them came from the garbage bin at the local greenhouse. When I saw them in a shopping cart piled on top of one another, I couldn’t bear to see them thrown in the dumpster, as many still had signs of life. I knew that with some TLC they would grow, flourish and bring color into our lives through the cold winter months. I asked the florist if I could buy them for fifty cents each and brought them home. I spent the next day or so lovingly pruning them, changing their containers, adding new soil and then placed them under the fluorescent lights in my kitchen—where they stayed until they came back to life.

In the weeks proceeding, I noticed the healthier the roses became, the more thorns they produced. I began to reflect upon a season in my life when I was very wounded. I had developed thorns to protect myself through the storms of spiritual abuse that I had weathered; yet, there waited a beautiful flower ready to bloom. I began to ponder the many ways we protect ourselves, spiritually and emotionally. How many of us develop thorns to keep others at a distance? Do we develop thorns to keep predators away?
“What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” 1 Corinthians 2:12 (NIV)
Searching for these answers was painful, bringing to the surface the reasons I had developed thorns and the brokenness I felt in my heart and soul. Little did I know that when I rescued these orphan plants that if I looked deep enough inside, there was a message in them for me of my own fragility, my own thorns, my own dead foliage and woundedness. And just as I saved these plants, there was a Savior waiting to rescue me, to heal all the ugliness and bring restoration—His beauty shining, blossoming, flourishing and adding color to my life.
Thank you Jesus for saving me. Thank you for using dying plants to show me that despite having been beaten down and damaged, you still had springtime waiting to bloom in my life. Thank you for being my Light while I came back to life. Thank you for using my compassion for living things to show me just how many thorns I was wearing. Thank you for lovingly pruning me and for breaking off every dead work and replacing a wilted spirit with roses.
“God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.”
1 Corinthians 1:27 (NLT)

Comments

  1. I’m sorry to hear about your other blog being compromised like that. That is horrible 🙁 But glad to have you on here!! I just added you on FB, too. I thought it was a FB page but seems to be a personal page, so I hope it’s ok that i added you.

    Anywho, thank you for sharing your feelings and your thoughts. I really enjoyed reading this post 🙂 Beautiful photo, too!

    ox

  2. Hi Mary….How wonderful you saved the roses that would have been tossed! They are lovely.

    It’s true that the “thorns” of life definitely come but we must hang in there and weather all the storms. Susan

    • Yes we do, Susan! Life is difficult at times. We all go through seasons of pain. And yes, I’m glad I saved the roses too. This is a repost from my old blog. The good thing about having lost my previous domain is that I get to resurrect all my old writing and fix it up a bit!

  4. Well Nellie, if you are like most of us, you were needy–and trying to find your place. But I think when we stop worrying about it, we settle comfortably where we belong. I went through tremendous spiritual abuse during my pastorate, and recovering has been challenging. I keptunearthing feelings that I didn’t know I had, but learned so much about myself, my needs, my weaknesses, my strengths…and how to discern healthy relationships from unhealthy ones. We should never need relationships at the cost of ourselves.
    Praise God, you have learned along the way too. That is victory on many levels!
    xoxo.

  5. Hi Mary,
    All your roses look beautiful, and so wonderful that you rescued them from the garbage heap, the same way God rescues us from the garbage heap of life. Great post, and oh so true,
    about woundedness. I believe it teaches us how not to treat people, and also how to defend ourselves against predators. At one time, I accepted any and every relationship
    into my life, but I have learned that if it seems to just be user friendly, I am no longer
    interested………………for me that is a victory.

    Hope you are feeling much better these days,
    Blessings, Nellie

    • Thank you, Sheri–on both counts. So happy you stopped by for a visit.
      I pray that my words touch the lives of my readers and with my new blog, try to make sure that each post is meaningful. Trying to stay on course and be true to my calling. Sometimes I get a little lost when I read so many wonderful posts from all of the talented women in my blogging sphere.
      Bless you.

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