The first flower Super Dad gave me was a single yellow rose. A red rose was too presumptive, he confessed later. In our conversation over drinks, he learned I was born in Texas, and exclaimed, “The Yellow Rose of Texas!” It has been our flower ever since.
There have been many yellow roses in our 33 years. A glass rose, an etched rose on a jewelry box, cards with yellow roses, a rose tattoo (that’s all I’m gonna say about that), and many, many bouquets. My favorite was a yellow rosebush Super Dad planted in our yard.
I wasn’t excited at the time. I wanted to leave our 20-year marriage and he attempted to bring new life into our relationship. He asked me to come outside to see what he had just planted on the side of our family home. He was so proud of this idea. I half smiled and said something about the gesture. I don’t even know what I said. I do remember looking over the plant and thinking, “If this makes it, then I’ll know we can make it, too,” fully aware everything we planted in our yard didn’t make it!
This is a picture from that beautiful rosebush that flourished! As did our marriage, after we pruned our dead parts, nourished our soil, and lovingly spread our roots deeper into our relationship. By the grace of God!
We moved away from that home and I missed seeing those beautiful flowers. This spring, Super Dad brought home a new rosebush and planted it in our yard, again, very excitedly. It looked dead with it’s leafless branches growing from a ball of dirt, which sat in our garage a few weeks, waiting for the ground to unfreeze. I begged God, this time with great anticipation, to please bring forth life in this plant, worried it might not make it. I’d always heard how hard it is to grow roses and it didn’t look well at all!
After two months, I noticed new life in tiny leaves from our new plant. And I thanked God! For seeing what I can’t, and never giving up on us, even when our faith falters. He gives us exactly what we need, when we need it.
Will you accept His rose?
Leave a Reply