September 3

I was driving Brady to school this morning and the song "Roses" was playing on the radio. As the car rolled to rest at a stop sign along the way, he looked up and exclaimed "hey, it's Rose Avenue. Isn't that weird?"

I considered his comment for a moment and then replied "no, not really. Maybe it's just God's way of telling us that we should spend more time reflecting on Jesus."

See, this particular song talks about the origin of roses, and suggests that maybe God made them to serve as something of a metaphor for Jesus's sacrifice: the thorns on the stem are reminiscent of the thorns He wore on his brow, while the petals are the beauty that still persists despite the presence of the thorns.

We don't generally think of sacrifices are beautiful things, but they really can be, can't they?