the
APRIL 2022 |VOLUME 48| ISSUE NO.4
EVANGEL
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF FIRST FREE CHURCH
Stop and Smell the Roses Through the day the color fades to almost white and then each of the five petals drops to the ground. By day’s end, the plant is completely void of blooms, but the next morning, many new flowers will be in full bloom to cycle through the end of another day Written by Nancy Jo Demolin
My father grew up on a small farm where growing vegetables and raising livestock enough to feed a family of eight children was a means of survival. His parents were both teachers which meant reciting the Gettysburg Address as you hoed corn and beans and such. My mom, on the other hand was raised in the ‘city’, but soon became a gardener in her own right. Well into their eighties, they spent every morning starting at 6 am; mom weeding her flower beds and dad hoeing his vegetables. They passed this love of gardening onto my three brothers and me. My oldest brother, a Master Gardener; my second brother, spends his retirement years working at a commercial greenhouse; my younger brother, a Professor of Horticulture at Clemson University; then there is me, not a green thumb by any means, but one who loves to look at a flower and recognize the glory it gives to its Creator. This tiny blue flax flower reminds me that God’s mercies are new every morning. (Lam. 3:22-24) Each morning it greets its beholder with bright periwinklecolored flowers.
The Pussy Willow is the first flower to emerge in spring. It may begin blooming in January! The softness of a Pussy Willow reminds me of the gentleness of our powerful Savior. Jesus described Himself as ‘gentle and lowly’ in heart.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11: 28-30) (Check out, “Gentle and Lowly” a wonderful book written by Dane Ortland.) "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,” (2 Cor. 2:14-15) My favorite fragrant flower is the lilac. I love to sit on my deck and smell the fragrance of my lilac bush as it permeates the air around me. I hope that I permeate the fragrance of Christ to others.