…and the change it made
Jenny left from work that day tired and discouraged. She wasn’t looking forward to an evening spent in her drab and dirty apartment. It would soon be Valentines Day she mused bitterly, noticing a small boy on the nearby street corner selling flowers for the coming holiday. “No celebration for me,” she muttered bitterly. She had lost her husband suddenly in an accident a few months ago and things just seemed to go from bad to worse. Suddenly, she was thrust into an unknown world, trying to make a living for herself to pay the rent and buy food. She had utterly given up on happiness, for she had little family to help her and few friends.
As she neared the street corner, where the little boy stood. He looked up at her for a while. “Are you alright?” he said. Maybe he noticed her drab and wrinkled dress, or her rather unkempt hair. She didn’t know, but suddenly he thrust the last bouquet he had to sell at her. “But I haven’t any money for such things!” she exclaimed. “I know, he returned, but I give you this because you’re special.” he said refusing to take them back as he closed up his outdoor shop. Jenny was speechless. The words he had told her made a tear come to her eye.
She dutifully went home clutching the little bouquet of red carnations he had given her. When she got to her apartment, she went to the table to find a place to put her bright bouquet, but the table was so cluttered, there was no place to set it, so she began to clear it off so it would look nice in the center. Going to the sink for a glass to arrange the bouquet in, she found the glasses were all dirty, so she washed one and shine it to fit the beauty of her flowers, then began to wash the rest of the surrounding dishes. Stepping back to admire her table arrangement, she notice her room in complete disarray. “This looks out of place in my room full of clutter. “I must do something about this.” So she began to straighten things up a bit.
She kept hearing the words “I give you this, because you’re special.” She sat down on a chair to think about that, then happened to look at a reflection in a mirror across from her. “I could be a better fit in this room, if I spruced myself up a bit. I certainly don’t look very special sitting here in wrinkled clothes. Suddenly she realized she was making her life even worse by the way she was acting. How could that young boy see anything special in her, but he did! She would hold on to that thought and act on something that he had seen.
Our Heavenly Father sees something special in each of us. He sees the talents He has placed in our lives. He sees a heart that longs for a relationship with Him to fulfill the reason He has placed us here on this earth. Jeremiah 1:5 tells us, “Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart.”What an exciting experience we will have, when we believe that God deems us special just like that little boy did for Jenny, He’s only a prayer away