Dear Followers, As I take a break today from my blog on TBRI, I want to share some poignant words from Chuck Swindoll.  I was literally brought to tears today by his words of grace and love. As you know from my previous blogs, I’m a huge fan of his. Never has a pastor, teacher or evangelist touched my heart as deeply as Chuck has touched mine. Perhaps because I’ve sat only yards away as he has preached or possibly, I found his messages so pertinent to me.

Recently, as I had lunch with a friend, I was sharing again the deep sorrow over the betrayal of the man I gave my heart and life to; my then husband of 44 years.  I’ve had to learn and accept since last year that the love I gave him for over 51 years was in vain. For this reason, Chuck’s words of love today impacted me greatly. It’s a recollection of not only God’s love for us, but also our human love for another. In part, they are as follows:

“Nothing affirms and encourages my wife more than roses. When our wedding anniversary rolls around each June, I make sure a vase full of beautiful roses winds up on her desk. Rose blooms are attractive, even elegant. Their color is stunning…The best part? They say what I cannot put into words . . . even more than, simply, “I love you.” They announce, “I haven’t forgotten.”

Roses escort Cynthia back to her childhood, where her best memories were anchored by her maternal grandparents in a small, four-room house on a rose farm along a country road in Tyler, Texas. Her parents’ cottage had burned down. So Cynthia, age 4, and her little sister, along with their parents, moved into Pa Pa and Granny’s little home. On his few acres, Pa Pa farmed his roses, and in that setting, Granny, confined to a hospital bed, helped forge the steel in Cynthia’s character.

Every morning when Pa Pa and his workers had finished cutting the roses, they would put them in large washtubs by the side of the road. The florist would pick them up… But the best roses weren’t put in the tubs. Pa Pa gave those first, with lots of kisses, to the love of his life as she lay in bed…”

I know each person reading will react with their personal emotions. For me it is the story of a devoted love from a husband to a wife, that only the best was given to her. Do you also give your first and your best to God? I Cor. 16:14 NKJ “Let all that you do be done with love.”