I have this cactus from Chile that rarely blooms. The temperature has to be just right, there must be the correct amount of moisture in the air. (Apparently in its homeland this succulent gets most of its water from the mist and the fog.) So you can imagine my excitement to walk out today and find these two gorgeous blooms.

I know this sounds strange but when I looked on these delicate gifts of nature I flashed on Mary at the tomb. How she expected to find a dry, dark and empty place of pain and sorrow. Instead she finds a Savior. How she runs to her brothers in Christ and cries out with surprise and joy, “I have seen the Lord!”

Mother Teresa prayed, “Dear Jesus, Help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us and be so in us that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus. Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be light to others. The light, O Jesus, will be all from you. None of it will be ours. It will be you shining on others through us. Let us thus praise you in the way you love best by shining on those around us…Amen.”

Today I encourage you to let our Savior shine through you. Surprise another with His beauty, His love. I know many of you today are facing some tough decisions in your relationships. While others have to wait for a doctor’s diagnosis. Some of you are on the verge of surgery. You may feel lonely, lost and to be honest afraid. But the reality and the surprising truth is…you are not alone! Today you can shine, you can bloom, you can take courage because you have the Risen Lord in your life and brothers and sisters in Christ to stand with you on this path!

And now dear God send me to my labor and my duty with the confidence and grace to transform this day into something which is pleasing to you. Amen.

via WordPress http://halak.org/2015/05/15/surprise/