Thought for the Week

by Pastor Tasha Alison, Largs Church of the Nazarene

I can still remember the smell as I walked through the front door of my grandparents’ home in Bath, South Carolina. It was tradition, every Sunday, for our extended family to get together and eat dinner after church, and on a warm springtime afternoon, their house always smelled like home -- fried chicken, cornbread, collard greens, peach cobbler.

After dinner, all of the kids went outside to play, but I’d spend my time picking a bouquet of flowers from the back garden for my grandmother. They were almost always dandelions; ordinary weeds to most, but I thought they were beautiful and so did she. She’d accept the bouquet from me with a gasp of joy and a hug and she’d place them carefully into a crystal vase atop the red and white gingham cloth covering the kitchen table.

Today, I’m reminded that our current situation has given us an opportunity to slow down, to walk more, to be less busy. These days, as Steve and I have been spending our once-a-day exercise time meandering around Largs, nature is showing us that it’s finally Spring! As we walk about, taking in the beauty of the wild blooming things, I am often reminded of my precious grandmother. She turned 102 last November. When I see the dandelions blooming, I think of the joy on her face when she received a handful of them from me, her warm hugs and the smell of their home on Sundays in the Spring. I’ve not seen her since last November, and it’s difficult knowing that I may not be able to see her, or to hug her, for a long time.

The current travel bans and stay-at-home orders are causing a lot of people grief and many of us are lamenting not being able to travel – whether for a holiday or to visit family. But how often are we given an opportunity to take the time to fully appreciate Largs in the springtime, without the hurried schedules we are so accustomed to? For most of us not on the front line, we have been given the gift of time. Time with our children, time with our families, time to call those we’ve lost touch with, time to walk and appreciate God’s beautiful creation - especially here, in our little corner of the world.

Spend some time, every day, enjoying the beauty around you, even the dandelions.