I own a small-town flower shop. Two teenage boys walked in last Wednesday afternoon looking completely out of place.
The older one, maybe sixteen, stepped up to the counter and put a crumpled wad of cash down. “Our mom passed away on Monday,” he said, staring at his shoes. “The funeral is tomorrow. We want to buy her some flowers. We have $38.” That amount barely covers a basic glass vase arrangement, let alone a proper funeral piece.
I looked at these two boys, clearly devastated, just trying to do right by their mother. “What was her favorite color?” I asked. “Purple,” the younger one whispered. I took their $38.
After I locked up the shop that evening, I stayed for two extra hours. I built a massive, gorgeous casket spray out of premium purple hydrangeas, lavender roses, and orchids. It was easily a $400 piece.
I delivered it to the funeral home myself the next morning. In business, you have to watch your bottom line. In life, you have to know when to throw the price tag in the trash.
My Commentary:
This story is about flowers, but it is really about love.
Two teenage boys walked into a flower shop carrying only $38 and hearts broken by grief. Their mother had died just days before. They were not looking for sympathy. They simply wanted to honor the woman who had loved them. They wanted to place something beautiful beside the casket of the person they would miss for the rest of their lives.
The florist could have sold them what their money would buy and sent them on their way. Instead, he saw beyond the transaction. He saw two grieving sons. He saw love trying to express itself despite limited means.
And so he did something extraordinary.
He spent two hours creating a magnificent arrangement filled with purple flowers, their mother’s favorite color. He gave them far more than they could afford because, in that moment, compassion mattered more than profit.
This is a beautiful example of God’s grace. Grace is receiving something we could never earn. Those boys could not purchase a $400 casket spray. Yet they received one anyway. Not because of what they had, but because of the generosity of another person’s heart.
That is how God loves us. We cannot earn His mercy or repay His kindness. He gives freely because love is His nature.
The florist also reminds us that there are moments in life when business, while important, must take a back seat to humanity. Jesus understood this. Again and again, He put people before rules, compassion before convenience, and mercy before calculation.
The final line says it perfectly: “In business, you have to watch your bottom line. In life, you have to know when to throw the price tag in the trash.”
Most people will never remember the balance sheet from a particular day. But those two boys will remember that act of kindness for the rest of their lives.
Sometimes the most beautiful flowers are not the ones placed on a casket.
They are the acts of love that bloom in the human heart.
Do YOU remember the balance in your checkbook last month, last year? What act of kindness do YOU remember from ten years ago?
YOU WERE PUT ON EARTH TO BE RE-MEMBERED IN HEAVEN!
