Fire Flowers

We saw this old overrun home while driving through our neighborhood this weekend. It was in sad shape, then we noticed a gaping hole on the side. After a slight suggestion by my husband, I grabbed my camera and ran out to see the extent of the damage.

I wonder if this home fire was accidental, did a family leave in the night in terror? Or, was it vacant and set fire by arsons/bored teens? Or, perhaps more common, it was a foreclosed home, set ablaze by a desperate family to escape the mortgage/bankruptcy. I am thinking the home was vacant, due to the fire marks and debris. There was a broken down swingset, shed and refrigerator in the backyard. A sad fate for any of the situations.

It was a small and thrilling discovery to see several wildly overgrown rosebushes on the property. I felt a pang of wonderment as how the roses in our rental turned diseased no matter the care we gave them (though they are returning)... yet the ones here that have been left with minimal rain and lack of pruning have thrived. Somehow, they have not been forgotten.

It makes me think... that even in the most desperate of situations, even in torment and the fires of our own personal lives, there will always be a seed of beauty to be gleaned from the experience.

There is a time of pain, but a season of hope. There is a time of destruction, but a season of renewal. There will always be some sort of pain... but always an even greater time of joy. For this, I am thankful for my God, my family, my faith... For I know, there are always good things to come:

... especially since the roses removed from their branches so easily... and fit very nicely into my little vases. May your day be as sweet as fresh cut roses, may good things come your way, may your outlook be one of progress and thankfulness. May you remember that you are not forgotten, that He is mindful of you and loves you.