Flowers....not weeds!

I was reminded during my quiet moment this morning (yes, i actually got a minute to be quiet) about a memory of my childhood.  I remember in my younger elementary years searching to please my teacher with a flower to brighten her day.  Once I found that pretty flower on the edge of the woods at the playground, I was so excited to present this to her.  I welled up with joy as I went up to give her something that I thought she would think was just beautiful.  Her words to me have set in over the years...."That is not a flower, it is a weed".  As children, we see everything with imagination and beauty.  It is somewhere in adulthood and growing up that we lose the childlike faith that everything in God's creation is of beauty.  I still think that little white daisy-like flower was as beautiful as the flowers out of the fields my children bring to me with the biggest smiles on their faces.

On a more biblical approach to my memory, I challenge us to treat those people around us that do not look like us (who we consider or culture considers weeds) and value them like the the beautiful flowers they are.  Love those neighbors as you love yourself.  If you do not find value in yourself, know that Christ loves you more than anyone else would and know that he valued you enough to die for you.