Have you looked at a daisy lately?

I have some daisies growing in my garden next to my front sidewalk. They didn’t come up last year. I suppose it is because of the fierce winter we had before that spring. With each snow storm, every time my husband shoveled the sidewalk, he piled up lots of snow right over that spot. My poor daisies! It was no great wonder that the daisies didn’t survive.

But, I have to say that I was rather jubilantly surprised to see that the daisies did come up this year and I have enjoyed watching them open their petals and bloom during the past couple of weeks.

“Our Lord’s love shines out just as much through a little soul who yields completely to His Grace as it does through the greatest . . . Just as the sun shines equally on the cedar and the little flower, so the Divine Sun shines equally on everyone, great and small. Everything is ordered for their good, just as in nature the seasons are so ordered that the smallest daisy comes to bloom at its appointed time.”
— St. Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, p. 4-5

I just love the simplicity of daisies and I think of them as “happy” flowers! 🙂

The other day, my husband plucked one out of the garden and then turned to me and as he held it out, he said:

“This is for you!”

I took it from his hand and thanked him. But, I must confess that it was kind of half hearted because I was sort of “complaining” that he should have picked it with a longer stem! Geesh! I have a lot of nerve! I quickly caught myself and thanked him again (with much more sincerity!) for his little impromptu surprise gift.

I brought it inside and put it in a vase of water and placed it on the table.

The next morning we sat down to enjoy a simple breakfast together. We prayed our Grace Before Meals and a few quick morning prayers and then we talked about the day ahead while we ate our breakfast.

Before long, my husband rose from his seat and cleared his plate, eager to check out whether or not his favorite war movie would be playing on TV since it was Memorial Day! I asked if he could please sit down again–just for a few minutes. I pleaded, actually. I wanted him to read a morning Psalm while I finished my healthy breakfast smoothie (I am a slow eater and he is fast!). I hadn’t yet read the little reading and the Psalm, but I felt deeply inspired to have my husband read it. But, Dave was in a bit of a rush that morning.

To my delight though, my husband sat down again, and I slid my prayer book in front of him, pointing to the passage for him to read out loud. We blessed ourselves with the Sign of the Cross and then Dave began to read:

Lord God, you have made heaven and earth by your great might, with your outstretched arm, nothing is impossible to you (Jer 32: 17)

Our glory is to mirror back in loving praise to the God who made us the beauty we glimpse dimly in all that comes from his hand.

 

Praise the Lord from the earth,

sea creatures and all oceans,

fire and hail, snow and mist,

stormy winds that obey his word;

all mountains and hills,

all fruit trees and cedars,

beasts, wild and tame,

reptiles and birds on the wing;

all earth’s kings and peoples,

earth’s princes and rulers;

young men and maidens,

old men together with children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord

for he alone is exalted.

The splendor of his name

reaches beyond heaven and earth.

He exalts the strength of his people.

He is the praise of all saints,

of the sons of Israel,

of the people to whom he comes close. (Psalm 148)

As Dave was reading the Psalm, I was listening and praying, and then I found myself gazing at the short stemmed daisy in the little glass vase, which, by the way, happened to be right in front of my face.

Wow…such beauty…

As I leaned in a bit closer, I suddenly discovered something about the daisy, that to me, was unexpected. I stared at the modest little gift my husband gave me the previous day. I was truly amazed at the perfect and petite intricate pattern on that simple yellow and white flower. I don’t think I had ever looked that closely before. I’m not sure. But, my sweet daisy was “speaking” to me during the reading of the Psalm which was all about mirroring back “in loving praise to the God who made us the beauty we glimpse dimly in all that comes from his hand.”

God is certainly about all of the details of His creation. Since He is, I have no doubt that He takes care of every detail of our lives.

If God can create such incredible and intricate beauty in one simple daisy, just think of the beauty He wants to make of our hearts and souls!

We finished our prayer together, blessing ourselves with the Sign of the Cross and Dave headed to the other room. Before I dove into some preparations for our upcoming barbecue, I decided to step outside to pause a moment beside the daisies in my garden where I could give thanks and praise to God.

There had been a gentle rain that morning and some rain drops were clinging to the daisy petals which was another reminder to me of how God takes care of the details. My thoughts immediately turned to one of my very favorite Bible passages:

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”(Matthew 6:26-34)

God is waiting for us in all the details of our lives. Will we meet Him there? Will we take time to pause, reflect, and see the beauty of His creation and strive to understand His loving messages to us?

Let’s live in ALL of the present moments of our days. Amazing graces are in store for us. Who is there in that moment who needs our help in some way?

We need to allow God to make a beautiful creation of our hearts and souls–RIGHT now! We can start by striving to become more attentive to His whispers to our souls and respond with love to His many graces.

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”