Roses Will Bloom Again

As September opens with its sunny days, cool air and turning leaves, my family is experiencing change. My son just came home from the hospital for the third time in four months. My father-in-law is away visiting family for a few weeks. My husband just changed jobs. I start a new job this week. When you think you’ve got your schedule/family/life figured out, a change occurs. Your health might change. You might lose a spouse or a child. Your financial status can change. A job can be gained or lost. The changes are as many as the people that experience them.

There are two things in our lives that are constant. One is that Dwayne and I have loved each other for 29 years. Our love has waxed and waned over the years—even that is not perfect. We have three children, two boys and a girl. We survived five years in the Army together, including 3 years in Germany. We lived with my parents for a year. We even weathered the change while becoming a pastor’s family. I never wanted to be a pastor’s wife. I grew up in a parsonage. In fact, I am the great-granddaughter, grand-daughter, daughter and wife of a pastor. When Dwayne discovered that God was calling him to be a pastor, I went kicking and screaming all the way. That was 18 years ago. We moved 19 times in 28 years of marriage. We survived the severe chronic illness of our oldest son, the gain and loss of a business we loved, the loss of friends, the loss of jobs, the loss of grandparents and this year, the loss of Dwayne’s mom. Our middle son enlisted in the Army and spent the summer in basic training. Our daughter married last year. Our lives perpetually change. We’ve determined that we are not alone. Every life has an undercurrent of change, even if it doesn’t appear so.


The other, and most important constant, in our lives is our faith. Our faith in Jesus Christ has literally held us together. We could not walk through these variations on a theme without the love of God. It permeates our lives like the fragrance of a rose that has been cut and brought inside. He has loved us when we were obedient and He has loved us when we weren’t. All of our lives, God’s hand held us steady even when our world shattered. We learned that roses bloom again. It is part of the cycle of our lives. There is a time for roses to die and lie dormant and a time for them to blossom. They bloom in the garden every year. They bloom in our lives when God tells them to. Roses will always bloom again.