February 15

Adam sent me flowers for Valentine's Day. When they arrived, they looked a bit... lackluster. No, dead. They looked dead. They were droopy and floppy and kind of pathetic in that Charlie Brown Christmas tree way. But I added water and flower food to the vase and put them on the counter anyway in hopes that they'd perk up a least a wee bit.

They still looked a bit unfortunate this morning, but by this afternoon, they came around and now they look like this:

I think the events of my life often follow the same course as these flowers: they look lousy for a while and I can't imagine how I'll ever be able to find any beauty amid the oft-chaotic ugly. But then, just when I'm about to give up, something lovely blooms.

We're not promised an easy path through life, but we are promised that good will arise from the bad for those who Believe. And for that truth, I'm grateful.