thank you

 

I say "thank you God"

for the flowers I have picked

then my wife thanks me

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Table of Contents

A fresh bouquet
of lilacs
with living water
in an antique vase.

The Holy Bible
the living word,
with a green ribbon
to mark his place.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home Garden; Home. 

Eight Years

The little boy
carries lilacs
in his warm hands,
into the warm kitchen
where his mother is 
baking brownies for him.

She accepts
his precious gift of lavender,
inhales the fragrance of spring,
her eyes glistening with love;
his eyes sparkling with pride.

Remembering the spring
he was born
eight years ago;

eight years since
her husband
brought her lilacs
from the same bush.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Kent County - Michigan

"Living Water"

A fresh bouquet of
lilacs for his wife
with living water
in an antique vase.

The Holy Bible,
the living word,
with ribbons
to mark their place.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Inspired by John 4: 10-14  ~ "Living Water"

The Bells of St. Patrick's

Catholic girls from
St. Patrick School
pick lilacs from 
farmhouse yards,

then place them near the altar
with reverence and humility;
(and secret pride)
more meaningful than any
store-bought, flower-shop bouquet.

From this fragrant offering,
one small flower 
shaped like a tiny bell,
falls softly, silently,
next to the candles
that are reflected 
in the gold chalice.

These lilacs, fresh as 
a May morning,
are expressive of the love
these girls possess,
the love they profess 
in prayer
as they attend 
morning mass,

listening to
the bells of St. Patrick's,
waiting 
to receive the grace
they hoped for 
when they offered 
these living treasures
flowering in lavender.

Soon the same hands
that gave the gift
that flourished in the sun
will receive the bread of life,
the body of Christ, God's son
who flourished briefly on earth,
who continues to guide
these willing participants,
continues to bless their lives.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Twenty years later one of these girls
will receive a bouquet of 
lavender love from lilac bushes
planted by her husband,
now picked by her husband
from their farmhouse yard.

From inside the screen door,
on the back porch,
the young mother watches
her toddling daughter being 
guided through the grass,
holding in her little palm
the father's finger,
the living flesh.

Now he lifts his daughter 
into his arms, up high,
to smell the fragrance.
Her new church dress
the color of lilacs.

She cannot express
the joy she feels
in her little girl heart,
until she hears the bells
of St. Patrick's 
across the fields.

The child's laughter,
ringing across the fields, 
and inside her father's heart,
becomes a pure gift
for her father,
for her Father.

The mother,
watching silently
from the back porch,
holds this moment
deep in her heart.

Now, closing her eyes,
she inhales this fragrant offering
from her own table,
listens to the bells of St. Patrick's,
senses His presence,
still feels the reverence,
and the faith of her family.

As they prepare for church,
she imagines the altar
so many years ago
gifted with lilacs,
and is grateful
for the grace 
she was given.

© 2015 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy: The Steps of St. Patrick's 

Photo Locations:

1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 12 : St. Patrick Church - Parnell, Michigan

2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14 : Home/Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan

9. Parnell, Michigan