My paternal grandmother was born in 1903. She was very young when she married my grandfather. He had come home after serving in WWI. The war was over. The 1918 flu pandemic had passed. It seemed life might hold promise after all.

Young people didn’t start out with very much then, only the necessities. So for a young couple that loved beauty…especially flowers…there was no money for such a luxury.

My grandfather dug up every blooming bush, tree, and vine he could find in the surrounding woods and fields. He carefully began their garden of flowers. Other additions would be “passalong plants”. Flowers neighbor ladies had in their yards and would share with one another.

So as a little girl, I played among all that beauty and grace. My grandmother didn’t think any of us should ever buy a flower for any event we hosted. She thought we should be able to find whatever we needed either in the yard or the fields. And we did.

One of the “passalong plants” I received from a garden club friend was Lenten Roses. They aren’t really a “rose”. But the wonderful thing about them is that they begin to bloom in January and can bloom until June! When it is the dead of winter and you can find a bloom in the garden, it seems miraculous.

Some friends and I were planning a fundraiser for a ministry we are involved in. The flowers I had intended to use were ruined in a hard rain. I had to change. There were plenty of Lenten Roses, so I put them to good use.

The flowers looked nice. As I looked at them in the vases, I realized they were in all states of bloom. Some were almost done with seeds forming in them. Others were just opening, and others were in full bloom. As I inspected them, I realized they were like all the ladies that would be coming to the event.

Some were little girls, some young mothers, empty-nesters, others great grandmothers. Like the roses, every lady was in a different place in their walk with Jesus. Each stage possessed a beauty all it’s own, and each stage is necessary for the body of Christ.

The older ladies are admonished in the book of Titus to “teach the younger women”. The younger women are admonished to be “keepers at home”. Each beautiful girl and woman doing their kingdom work.

So just like those bouquets of Lenten Roses, each blossom in a different place of maturity, the women of the family of faith come together to make a lovely bouquet…beauty in each and every one.