A woman is like a flower…

When she is properly tended, well fed, receives the proper amount of love and light, handled gently, like the beautiful creature she is, she will bloom in full radiance. If you provide her a good foundation upon which to grow her roots, she will continue to grow and bloom, season after season, only becoming more beautiful with every Spring that passes.

However, when exposed to harsh elements, neglected and abused, keep her in the dark or handle her roughly, she will wilt, bruise and hide her beauty from the world. If you pluck her, take away her roots, steal her foundation, she will wither and die.

I’ve been a flower in someone’s garden…

I once bloomed, brilliantly, beautifully, but was not handled with the care of the Master Gardener, so I wilted, withered, and nearly died, my beauty hidden from the world. I lived in this darkness for so long I felt dead inside, appeared dead on the outside, nothing but sharp, pointy, painful branches left of the beauty that could be. Plucked from the garden, left to hide in misery and gloom.

But much like the rose bush, which can live for years in dark recesses before it finally dies, once firmly planted again, tended and cared for, the rose bush will once again bloom in its full glory. It may take time, but the blossoms, the petals, the color, the fragrance, all of it will again grow, and if properly handled, will be all the more spectacular with the new season.

My Master Gardener has tended the ground upon which I thrive. He has fed me, cared for me, provided me with love and light, given me a solid foundation upon which to take root.

I open the petals in my Springtime to the rising warmth of the sun, and I once again bloom with my full beauty, glory, and brilliance that always should have been mine.