The bouquet of red roses caught my attention. Just before Christmas two women and a little girl found seats near the fireplace in the coffee shop where I hang out. They brought the roses. One of the women, a pastor\u2019s wife, recognized me, and we chatted for a moment. \u201cWho are the roses for?\u201d I asked. \u201cWe don\u2019t know yet,\u201d she replied. \u201cWe\u2019re going to ask God who we should give them to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, I had to find out what happened with those roses so I tracked down the woman I\u2019d met. She said this idea of giving away Christmas roses had been passed down to her from her mother-in-law. The year before, she and her 8-year-old daughter, roses at the ready, were in a store when her daughter pointed out a woman. (\u201cMy daughter doesn\u2019t have the Holy Spirit, Jr.,\u201d the woman told me. \u201cThe Holy Spirit speaks to her!\u201d) When they gave her the roses, the woman was stunned and wept. Turns out her husband had died recently, and the roses were a miraculous love gift from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That day after I\u2019d left the coffee shop the three of them prayed and her daughter spotted a woman sitting alone in a corner booth. So, they walked over and told her that God wanted her to have the roses. Of course, she was shocked. She had gotten out of the house for some quiet while her husband stayed with their two sick kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My friend said that after they parted she felt like the gift hadn\u2019t been as special as the year before; \u201ckind of a bust,\u201d she said. But then the Lord whispered to her, \u201cDo you think I wouldn\u2019t see a tired mom with two sick kids at home and want her to have roses?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The verse that prompts my friend\u2019s grace-giving is from 2 Cor 5:14 NLT, \u201cWhatever we do, it is certainly not for our own profit but because Christ\u2019s love controls us now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[4043,4053,4321,5283,5284],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-65122","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-generosity","tax_ctp_tags-gifts","tax_ctp_tags-kindness","tax_ctp_tags-witness","tax_ctp_tags-witnessing"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\n