Bouquet

My colleague was standing by the little sink in the back area of our library, filling a glass vase with water. I admired the bouquet of flowers she was arranging as I grabbed my seltzer from the mini fridge. "These are for you!" she said. "For me?" I gasped. "What's the occasion?" "Just because I thought it would brighten up your office," she replied as she tied a purple ribbon around the vase.

She carried them to my office and set them on my cluttered desk. Immediately the whole room brightened. The stacks of paper waiting for my attention didn't seem so daunting. The delicate pinks and purples were just the inspiration I needed to settle in and get to work. I had a most productive afternoon, and I smiled as I closed the door and tucked the cheery bouquet in for the evening.

Next morning I had quite forgotten about the flowers, and it came as a wonderful surprise when I unlocked my office. How nice to start the day with a smile instead of a list of stuff to take care of post haste. Throughout the day everyone who came to my office remarked about the flowers and enjoyed their vibrant color and sweet fragrance.

Was it my imagination or did the conversation go more smoothly? This is annual evaluation week, and we talk not only about accomplishments and goals met, but places for improvement. Those can be hard conversations. One would rather NOT have to see where you have dropped the ball or misunderstood something. Hard enough when you purposely ask for that kind of feedback, but when someone is offering it unsolicited, it can hurt.

Those flowers were uplifting and encouraging all week long, and my colleague who gave them to me peeked in at the end of the week and was surprised to see that they looked just as perfect and full as when she first put them there. And they *still* look gorgeous almost a whole nother week later.

Funny thing is that I ignored them all week. The water level in the vase kept getting lower and lower. I didn't change the water, add any more, put food in the vase. Yet they continued to offer their beauty unaffected by my negligence. I began to wonder what there was about my office space that was so congenial to their well being! After all, it wasn't cold like outdoors or warm like a greenhouse. I have no window, and my door opens to a hallway, so no sun. I wondered if it were all an illusion. Perhaps they were hanging together by a thread. So I jiggled the vase just to see if petals would fall. Everything was solid and intact.

Now it has become something of a game to see how long they will last. Yesterday, I finally added some tap water out of pure admiration for their hardiness and pluck. My evaluations are still ongoing. I wonder if they will give up the ghost when I am done with these difficult conversations. After all, God has promised that you will have what you need when you need it, and if he can feed an army in the wilderness for forty years without resources, he can uplift my soul for a few weeks with His designer decor.

One way or another, I will continue to enjoy the feast for as long as it lasts.