Category Archives: hope

Are There Flowers in Hell?

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Beautiful flowers blooming in the midst of tremendous pain!



Sometimes people can ask some really strange questions!  Here’s one that I got asked a while ago.  “Are there flowers in hell?”  Now, what kind of question is that?!?!? 

After thinking a minute or two, I said that I doubted there would be flowers blooming in hell — not according to the description of hell in the Bible.

BUT, I do know that flowers can bloom in the midst of agony and pain.  And, I think part of the purpose of gorgeous flowers that bloom in spite of brokenness and pain is to give us something beautiful to focus on and to give us HOPE of a better day.  Maybe that’s why I’m such a flower nut!  I love, love, love flowers!!! And, I sure do love hope!!! 

Last year when my daughter spent time in Haiti, she saw all kinds of things that broke her heart.  Extreme poverty.  Severe damage due to storms.  Orphaned children.  Elderly living in blindness and fear.  Starvation.  Illness with not even a Tylenol to reduce pain and fever.  Nakedness.  Homelessness.  So much pain and suffering!

BUT, Stephanie took a picture just for me.  “Here’s a picture of some flowers for you, Mom!”  Steph has no idea how many times I’ve looked at that photo in this past year.  In every petal I see hope.  I see God’s love within each bloom.  I see His hand stretching out to those who are in daily pain saying, “I’ve sent you these flowers to show you that nothing — absolutely nothing — can keep my love from reaching you!”

When I set foot on Haitian soil, I will also experience walking among pain and poverty and illness such as I’ve never seen before.  But, you know what?  I’m going to be looking for those flowers!  The yellow flowers that bloom so brightly!  Why?  Because those flowers will quiet my broken heart and remind me that God is near to the brokenhearted.  He is with us in our pain.  He has not forgotten us or forsaken us.

Are there flowers in hell?  I doubt it.  But, I know there are flowers in our suffering and pain, and I’m so thankful for that precious reminder of hope!

Only thirty six more days until take off…..

Love,
Clara

The Day the Rainbow Spoke

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Each of us has a moment — that special defining moment that we can remember when our lives made a pivotol change. For me, that moment came on the day the rainbow spoke.

To set the background, I had just been through the worst emotional storm of my life. In my seventh month of pregnancy, I went to the doctor for a routine monthly check-up only to find that my baby boy had died. Intra-uterine death are the words the doctor quietly voiced. “Your baby’s heart has stopped beating.”

It took a long time for those harsh, cruel words to sink in and when they did my world came crashing down. Due to the beliefs of my doctor, it was best for me to carry this child, my son, until I went into spontaneous labor. How long would that take? What would it feel like? What would he look like? Will I get an infection? What happens after he is born? So many questions, and nobody to give me answers. I got only tearful stares. People hurt with me, and nobody had any answers that seemed to be the right ones. Really, there were no answers that I wanted to hear. I only wanted one thing and that was my baby.

In three weeks, I did deliver this beautiful, perfect child, and he was just as the doctors said he would be. He was fully developed, he had a lot of blonde, fuzzy hair, and he was perfectly still. No heart was beating. When I think back to that moment, I can still remember the crushing pain my own heart felt as it broke into a million little pieces.

For months I cried every hour of the day. Nothing seemed right. Nothing looked right. Nothing felt right. The joy had died when my little boy died. The world that I once knew went totally black on me and I believed at that time that I would never again know joy in my life.

One particular day, I was driving down the country road that leads to my home, and a storm blew in rather abruptly. The sky became as dark as the night, and the winds whipped, and the sky poured rain as I’ve never seen before. The thunder clapped and the lightening flashed, and my tears began to fall as hard as the rain. The louder the thunder roared, the louder my wails became. I stopped the car along the side of the road and wished at that moment that I could just vanish into the depths of the storm. The pain I was feeling felt like far too much!

Then, something amazing began to happen. Just as suddenly as it began raining, it stopped. The dark turned to light so fast that it was like a light switch being turned on. I couldn’t breathe right from so much crying, so I opened the window in the car, and as I did I looked upward through my swollen eyes, and then it happened. This was the day the rainbow spoke!

Right before my eyes was a glorious rainbow stretched across the sky that just moments before was black as night spilling forth torrential rain. The sun came out bright and wonderful, and the rainbow continued to speak. “Be calm, my child. I have sent you this rainbow as your sign of hope. No longer will your days be black, but you will be filled with Light and Peace. I will hold you in the palm of my hand and will take you in the shelter of my wing.”

And, that is exactly what happened. It was just as I say. God had given me the sign of His everlasting promise of hope. He was with me and I no longer had to walk this path alone. It was right at that moment — the day the rainbow spoke — that my heart began to heal!

Love,
Clara

Mother of 11 living children
Mother of 6 angel babies
Mother of 1 stillborn son