BEAUTIFUL OR PAST THEIR BEST?

I get the feeling that this is going to be a “flowery” week and there’s nothing wrong with that.  These are tulips that were left in the bucket at the Community Fridge, I think because they looked a little droopy.  I brought them home, gave them a drink and they perked up.

However, they are now, some may say, past their best, but many of you will know that I love them when they are like this - to me there is so much beauty and much more character than when they were, so say, in their prime.  But I know it is just a matter of opinion and before Blip, I would have thrown them on the compost heap when they began to wilt and look like this.

I wonder if we do that with people - look at them and decide they don’t quite fit into what we consider is perfect so toss them aside or ignore them. 

I was out with a friend this morning for coffee and we were chatting about our faith, feelings, and insecurities and many other things too.  We were both of the opinion that however, we see ourselves and however others see us, God loves us just as we are. 

So on this day, Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of Lent, the period of 40 days during which Christians remember the events leading up to and including the death of Jesus - I’m not giving anything up, but I am going to remember that whatever and however I feel about myself, God loves me just as I am and I’m going to embrace that thought!

“Though we are incomplete, 
     God loves us completely. 
Though we are imperfect, 
     He loves us perfectly. 
Though we may feel lost 
     and without compass, 
God's love 
     encompasses us completely. 
He loves every one of us, 
     even those who are flawed, 
          rejected, awkward, 
               sorrowful, or broken.”
Dieter F. Uchtdorf