I’ve been wanting to share this story with you for a long time and the start of a new year is probably the right moment.

In August I was walking along the path that leads to the back of the farm and was in a hurry. I tripped over a pothole or a rock or something (maybe even a leaf) and because I am incredibly coordinated stumbled off the path and fell alongside the ditch. It honestly wouldn’t have been so bad except that the exact location my hands and knees landed was smack in the middle of a thistle patch. I was up in a flash, more out of embarrassment than agility, but my brain had a millisecond to pick up the most exquisite fragrance.

I was expecting…

I started searching for the root of this nectar-like aroma floating through the air, absolutely sure that there was a field of wildflowers hidden from sight. I dusted off my knees and picked out the sharp, painful spokes left in the palms of my hands. Walking back and forth along the path I kept looking for anything that resembled what I was expecting to see.

I was not expecting…

The only thing I could see were lovely pink flowers on top of silky, spiky stems; hundreds of them. I bent over a flower and heard the hum of bees cruising by and saw them nestling into the pink to capture the succulent pollen; the smell was intoxicating.

Thistles; sharp and agonizing when I fell into them were also beautiful in their maturity and fragrant when in full bloom.

vision…

Good can come out of nasty. Fragrance can overpower stench. Beauty can outshine the ugly circumstances in life. Nature points us to heaven and I see the hope of something beautiful crowning the difficulties we face. The pink flowers feel like redemption.

So maybe 2023 was hard, really hard. Maybe you struggled through most days trying to find a shred of hope and an ounce of joy. I had some days like that myself and I wish I could give you hug and tell you I know…I know.

bright hope for tomorrow…

Let’s allow the comfort of the Holy Spirit to envelope us as we launch into a new year. The passage of Scripture I am focusing on for 2024 is found in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 which reads:

“So we do not lose heart.

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory

beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen

but to the things that are unseen.

For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen

are eternal.” (ESV)

 

what am I doing here…

You might be wondering what am I doing here?? How did my life lead me down this path? Maybe you’ve dived into 2024 with dirty knees and palms full of prickles and you’re wondering if your life will amount to what you had so desperately hoped for.

Search for the unseen, diligently seek the eternal which does not depend on outer beauty or fancy stuff; it doesn’t need human applause or fake perfection.

Look for the crown. Search for the fragrance of Christ in your circumstance. Thistle’s have the most beautiful aroma after the stem of thorns has finished growing. You’d think the spikes would be the end of the story, but all of a sudden there is a burst of brilliant color and the smell of heaven envelopes the air. The eternal weight of glory coming to rest on us as we persevere is utterly beyond anything our minds or hearts can fathom. Please don’t give up.

Blessings to you this coming year

xo