I knew a man once, a long time ago, he was a younger man, naive yet full of faith. Faith in God but also in the world! This man always loved God, even walked and talked with Him his whole life, but often knew not how to show it.

Then one day he found himself in a far-off land, and the last thing he expected happened; God decided to bless him by allowing our young traveler to meet one of God’s “truly wonderful flowers”!

It didn’t take long for this man to fall in love with the flower, because everyone who ever met her loved her. But another true miracle occurred, she actually loved him as well! Giving up school, home, family, even country, in a place that didn’t speak his language, for a gift given by God didn’t seem like a sacrifice at all, but more a privilege.

Days and nights filled with laughter, most of the time at nothing at all, coupled with the sweet scent of fresh dew on newly blossomed flowers, the misty morn of a cool spring day, so was her breath. A touch so soft yet graced with strength, that it lit a flame in this man’s heart that encircled said heart as gently as a warm feather bed snuggles shoulders on a cold winter’s night.

Every curl, every curve, the every glance, her mere touch was as perfect as the speckling of beauty marks on her legs that randomly adorned her being like the stars of the sky. Perfect, maybe not by worlds standards, but to him as perfect as any glorious creation his young eyes had yet witnessed.

How sweet it was to sit across a crowded room and have her look at him, mouth a word, and he would know exactly everything she said. How sweet was it to come from a feast every day that was her, and be so full he couldn’t even glance at another morsel.

She was his love, she was his heart, she was his friend, she was his life. She was his wife!

A man would risk, even sacrifice his life, gladly!, to protect the precious pearl, that God has blessed him with. She does as well; risks her own, sacrificing body, risking life to joyfully bring child into the world.

Blessings beyond imagination!

Some would say our young traveler had it all; when you have everything you need, all the extras are just extra, and really only amount to simple pleasures that rain down from God as simple flakes of snow in a perfect winters scene.

But suddenly one day which should have been glorious, being only a single one before the scheduled day of birth of their second child, turned to tragedy! A stranger who would rush to beat a red light would cross her path, and life for her, as well as the child, would disappear from her blue eyes.

To understand the depth of what he experienced, only those that have experienced similar losses can feel the pain, and through this common feeling, this tragic experience, can relate to what he went through after that horrific day.

When I say those of similar loss, I mean someone who has a part of themselves taken from this world.

Not to diminish anyone’s loss, whether it is a parent, a dear friend, or close love one, but nothing seems to compare to the loss of a spouse or child! This may very well be due to the fact that a child is created with a piece of ourselves. In the same way, when two people become one flesh as is the case in marriage.

The loss of either of these kinds of individuals in our lives can leave us not only depressed at this loss but left with a sense of utter and unexplainable incompleteness. We feel like a part of us is missing, and no matter what we do, we can’t seem to find a fill to that lost part!

Why he asked?!!!

Our young traveler, our angry, confused, guilt-ridden, tired young believer, would enter the wilderness! wander with fist in air, kicking rocks, head down, eyes turned away from the glare of a day that has become various shades of grey.

Days turned into weeks, which turned into years. Relationships came and went, and with them came various levels of betrayal even from those who pledged their deepest devotion.

Funny how a man can just slowly walk into a “Death Valley”, slowly descending, unknowingly most of the time, until he finds himself so far below the “Sea” level, that he can hardly imagine a way out. When all seems lost and giving up becomes something our blessed, not so young man possibly looks at for the first time in his life, finally, out of desperation, he calls out to Jesus for help and Jesus answers! In a bathtub of all places!

The climb out is a rapid ascent when God shows the path! Three things happen when you get to the other side, at the top of the mountain ridge that crests the edge of the valley; one, you can look back and see the whole valley, giving a clear picture of the whole valley and what exactly it was, and two, it doesn’t look so big as it did when you were deep in, and third, a person might even thank Him for the experience of overcoming, the task won, the lesson learned!

God is so good! Not only does He rescue His child when called, He blesses our traveler with the answer to his “why?” question that has haunted him all the years of his wilderness walk.

One day he was asked by a female friend who had also had a tragic loss of a child. When she heard of his loss she turned as with tears in her eyes said; “if God loves as you say He does, then how do you explain the loss of an innocent person such as your wife or child, or my baby?”

At this point, our new recruit in God’s army had become a “Born Again Christian” and knew Jesus lived in his heart, but the answer to that question he had never quite heard!

He closed his eyes and asked Jesus for wisdom. Jesus spoke in his mind.

An image immediately appeared;

He softly speaks into her ear; “I just had the vision of a beautiful field of flowers, mostly reds, but also yellows, violets, and whites, appear in my mind. In the middle of a sweeping hill-lined valley meadow, stood a shady tree, quite inviting and peaceful! You know the kind, they show on a travel brochure to Tuscany, Italy or someplace like that?”

“Peaceful, restful, perfect in order and design, balanced majesty of symphonic grace as the breeze gently flows over blossoms, like the caressing waves of green-tinted shore.”

“The voice of Jesus just said in my head;”

“Consider the flowers;”

“Some lie in the middle of the field, where the Sun is strong and the soil is deep, plenty of water, safe.”

“Some lie under the trees, a good safe place but not as much sun, they just don’t seem to grow as well.”

“Some lie in the rocks, where the soil is thin and water spars, they do not grow well at all, a seemingly poor life.”

“Some lie in the weeds, where life is hard and struggle seems to be a daily event, their short life choked out sometimes cruelly.”

“And some lie on the road, where the wagon comes by and snuffs out their life suddenly!”

“You are all those flowers in that field! You are all flowers to me; some you are strong, some of you are weak, some of you are tall, some are small, all equal, all loved, all perfect.”

“Yours is not to understand why this one lies here, or that one there, in my most perfect field, yours is to Thank Me!, for the time you got spend with my most precious flowers!”

Our young believer then understood and had an overwhelming realization that he needed to “thank God” for two things; for all the precious time he got to spend in his life with such a beautiful creation as one of God’s precious flowers, his wife and even unborn child. If it was but a moment, it was infinitely better than to have never had known them at all! And two; that Jesus loves him enough to let me see the rest of the beauty of this gift we call our life, seeing not only our place in it, but his hand in every sight, sound, taste, and breath we share. If God didn’t have all of the flowers in their perfect place, and in their perfect color, we wouldn’t have the even more glorious field!

The true picture of life, as He sees it, and as we experience it.

This traveler was me!

God is faithful, I have had precious time with one of His most precious flowers.

That was many years ago, praise God I have also have since been promised restoration, and God always keeps His promises.

A flower?

Could God have another for me, and allow me to be one for her!

For Hilly Colla

By Peter Colla

“Dear Jesus, allow me to not only see myself as one of your precious flowers, but all those around me, grant me the vision and sight as you see us, and in turn experience the same love you have for each of us, equal and perfect.”