Valentine Rose of Sharon 1998

 

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Valentine’s Day miracle 1998

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Written in the year 2000, excerpt from my book, “the Lions and the Bride.”

 

“…and lo, I am with you always,

even to the end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:20)

 

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For the past two years, there has been a special “something” in my kitchen that has been the most tangible evidence that the Lord is a

“God at hand, …and not a God afar off.” (Jeremiah 23:23)

It is collecting dust, but I will not remove it, because it is a precious gift.

It is a comfort every time I look at it. And I want to share the experience, and the simple story behind it to give hope and strength to others.

In the spring of 1998, around Valentine’s Day, Jacinda came home with a pretty pink rose someone at school had given her.

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I didn’t have any spare vases, so we unwrapped an empty soft drink bottle, and put the rose in it along, with just a little water.

As I have a cluttered kitchen, we looked for a place to put it. I had a picture of Jesus I had saved from a relative’s funeral.

We placed the rose along side of the picture, and thought it would brighten up the kitchen for at least most of the week, since roses don’t last very long. Usually, all the petals fall off and they end up in the trash.

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Time passed, and everyone in the house forgot about it. Jacinda was busy in school, and I was busy at work. I was doing the minimum to keep the kitchen straight. (The others didn’t pay much attention to anything in the kitchen, except the refrigerator.)

Several months went by, and one Saturday morning there, we all were in the kitchen, and we actually noticed the rose still sitting there. It was completely intact.

Not one petal or leaf had fallen off.

We were all fascinated with it. My son, Eric, was the first one to notice the verse at the bottom of the picture from John 11:25, 

“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, even if he die, shall live.”

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We all concluded that even though the rose was supposed to be dead, it was perfectly preserved, and had the appearance of a live flower.

The only difference was that it had turned a yellow color. To us, even though the rose died, it lived.

To us, our Lord had worked a little miracle, just to let us know He was around.

After that, it was just a blessing to come into the kitchen and look at the rose that “didn’t die.”

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It has now been two years. It still has all its petals and leaves and the original water from two years ago. The water never evaporated.

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Once a year, I test the stem of the rose. It is still moist and flexible. It should be dry as a bone. So, water is still going up the stem, nurturing the leaves and petals and keeping them from falling off.

It makes me so happy when I come into my kitchen each morning and I look up at my rose, which has now been put in a special, safe place on a cabinet.

It is a constant reminder of my “Rose of Sharon” who came to stay in my home, to bless and inspire everyone who comes in.

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Trust God and love Him…Through all my trials, my Lord never left me once. He promised He would be with me always, and He is keeping His promise.

This promise is for all that believe in Him.

I do not worry about what I see in the visible world, because I know in the invisible, there is a beautiful Lion of Judah who protects me, and provides for me. I am His beautiful bride, His precious possession.

I do not fear any cross, because it is there that I find His love the greatest.

I would embrace a thousand crosses just for Him, because I know it would be like casting a thousand roses at His feet.

And these would be roses that would never die!

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Note:

The rose lasted until this past year, 2017 (19 years). It had collected so much dust I had to finally toss it.

I lost the original photo of the rose, as I transferred, and lost, information from older computers to newer ones, so I showed a generic picture under the title of what it looked like.

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