The Valley of Roses

It's been really hard here lately!  Even though the Stemtech and Kyroback are starting to make major dents in the pain/burning/tingling/numbness/and muscle jerks of MS, it's hard to wait to get totally well!!!  Sometimes I think that it's harder to be patient AFTER the improvements have begun than before.  A little bit of relief is soooooooooo wonderful that I want MOOORRRRRRREEEEEEE!  I WANT TO BE WELL NOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

That's why the story that I'm about to share with you means so very much to me.  Yesterday, while giving a client a phone session, his mom shared this wonderful story with me.  She said that, as a young woman, she had been on a mission trip and found it not as delightful as she had anticipated.  An older, wiser woman shared this story with her and I am so thankful that she shared it with me.  This is my version and I pray that it blesses all of you who are facing a lot of thorns today!


God bless,

Dawn








Life is like this.  When we are born we are on the top of a very tall mountain.  Our death lies at the top of another very tall mountain very far away.  In the immense valley which lies between these 2 huge mountains are beautiful roses.  In fact, the whole valley is filled to overflowing with roses that look and smell so stunningly beautiful that we can hardly wait to get started on our journey.






As we begin our life, we are filled with excitement at being alive and we see only the beauty of the roses calling us forward into the valley.  We go forward with great anticipation of how wonderful it will be to live in that valley.  We are in high spirits just knowing that life amongst such beautiful roses can be nothing but wonderful.






However, and there seems to always be a however, as we get deeper into the valley we discover that there are giant thorns attached to the rose plants.  The thorns pull at our clothing and tear our skin and cause us pain.






We find huge boulders that we must go around or over or blast apart to get through somehow.  We find mud that nearly chokes us when we fall on our faces and there is always the knowledge that quicksand may suck us under at any moment. 






There are insects which bite and sting and suck our life's blood.  On top of that, there are others in the valley who say unkind things as they push past us to get to the top of the mountain first with the most rose petals in their pockets.  They may stop just long enough to take our treasures that we've been collecting as we go on our way leaving us even more miserable than before. 




Others may actually try to run us into the thorns on purpose just because they are like that.  The only way to keep going, with that kind in our area, is to forgive them and begin to pray that God will work in their hearts to change them into caring human beings.






Some of these others are kind and travel along with us, helping us when we stumble, but they are few and their paths leave ours all too soon leaving us alone again to try to find our way.






Once in awhile, when we think to look up, we can see the lovely roses just above our heads.  During these moments, we sit quietly just taking in their beauty and being thankful to God for blessing us with the roses!  Soon, however, life forces us to be off again.






Week after week; month after month; year after year; decade after decade we slowly plod through the mud, or the hard cracked earth depending on rainfall, towards our destination.  We learn gradually to proceed more slowly--pausing more often to look at the roses instead of the thorns.






One day after learning to lean on the Father of all, we come out of the valley.  Very slowly now, we climb the mountain of our death.  VERRY slowly we approach the end of our life.  Very slowly we approach that moment that we have dreamed of as "Reaching our reward."






As we wearily make the last few days journey to the very pinnacle of the mountain, we ponder why God was so very cruel to give us such a difficult journey.  We start to think about facing Him and, instead of head held high with confidence, our shoulders slump forward wearily from the journey. 
"Why?" we wonder did He give me such an awful journey?






Then, just as we reach the top, we slowly turn around to take one last look at the valley and our heart thrills at what we see.  There, from that tall vantage point, we can see the valley filled to overflowing with gorgeous roses just like we saw at the beginning of our life.





That was when we understood something that our young minds never could have grasped.  The valley of roses was beautiful ALL THE TIME!!!!!  God's world was beautiful all along!  The roses didn't change at all!  They were always there--we just couldn't see them when we focused on all of the problems of life. 




Look up then, dear reader.  God is there with His beauty and promises all along the journey--even when it doesn't seem like it!  Look up and let His beauty sink into your being and then proceed towards the other mountain called Heaven!  The journey, dear friends, is meant to be delightful!!!