Roses or Thorns?

“The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns: the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious of the rose.”  Kahil Gibran

Wow, how true this is in my life.  I sometimes have the pessimistic attitude about life.  I look at the circumstances of my past and see that there have been parts of my life that have been anything but a bed of roses.  I have lived and survived many snags and hurts and there have been moments in my life the thorns have pierced the deepest part of my soul.

When I was young, my mother had a huge rose bush in our back yard. Every year after bloom, I remember getting excited when we would cut the perfect rose for my teachers.  I vividly remember if I didn't hold it just right on my walk to school, I would easily get cut by the thorns. It was always a challenge and risk that I took because the reward was so wonderful.
 
During the days of my childhood and the days my family seemed to be slowly falling apart, I remembered wishing there were someway we could get rid of the big, mean, vicious thorns that were tearing our family apart. Alcohol, Divorce, rejection, hate, abuse, were the feelings felt and ones I wish I could have replaced with soft, pretty and lovely feelings you get when you see a fresh bloomed rose.

After time, things continued to get worse and the pretty rose bush in my life began producing more and more terrible thorns that ultimately lead to a pretty awful divorce in my family. As I look back on the source of my pain and wonder if my life as a child should be chalked to a bush of thorns or should I call it a bush of flowers. Really, it could go either way. I can be a pessimist or optimist the choice is always mine to make.

As I look at my role as a mom, everyday I am determined that my family tree must grow in another direction.  I have nothing to cling to in the "natural". My parenting knowledge is based on a broken childhood filled with chaos.  But, I don’t have to experience having a good parent to be a good parent.  I know through my faith and hope in Christ He will give me the guidance I need to be a good mom.  No, that’s not to say that I’m going to be perfect, but it gives me hope of His love for me and my call as a mother.  He will be with me in all my trials and I know through faith He plants seeds of hope as long as I allow Him. I have a deep desire to form new branches for my family and my future and He will lead me down that path to a beautiful garden.

Yes, life sometimes hands us thorns but we have the choice to park our mind on the thorn or on the beauty it can eventually produce in us if only we’ll cling tightly to God’s Word. For however a person thinks is how they will eventually become.  If I dwell on and think about the negative in life or my childhood, I will become a pessimist and see nothing but thorns.  If, however, I acknowledge the negative but choose instead to look for the good that can come from it, God’s Word will take root in my soul and produce a lush crop of beauty. It all comes down to my choice.  Today I'm relying on his strength to get me through.