Cherry Blossoms of Korea
Early spring, I was blessed to travel to Korea, with my two daughters. We timed our trip to see the famous cherry blossoms of Korea. But when we landed in Korea, we were told that the cherry blossoms were late to blossom because of the colder winter they had. We were very disappointed as we planned some of our activities around cherry blossom festivals. But our disappointment turned into joy as we experienced cherry blossoms blooming from beginning to finish. Cherry blossoms are delightful but have a short life. Everyday from our hotel window we saw the beautiful pink petals grow more and more. The rolling hills turned from mostly green to a delightful shade of pink as the week wore on. Towards the end of the week, we even witnessed the sight of the glorious pink showers that rained down from the falling petals of the flowers. As the ground became covered in delicate pink petals, we were truly in awe of the majesty of God and His beautiful handiwork.
When I read the following passage, I was reminded about the beauty of the cherry blossoms of Korea. “The Lord has given us precious blessings in the simple flowers of the field, in the fragrance so grateful to our senses. He has tinted every flower with beauty; for He is the great Master Artist. He who has created the beautiful things in nature will do far greater things for the soul. God is a lover of the beautiful, and He would adorn our characters with His own rich graces. He would have our words as fragrant as the flowers of the field.” Our Father Cares 118.3
What an awesome thought that God wants to create even more beauty in my soul, than the beautiful cherry blossom! Seeing such beauty is a great reminder to me of how God wants my soul to grow and blossom. How can He turn my heart of stone into a thing of beauty? It is a wonder of wonders that He wants to and that He can do it!
Even greater is the concept that he wants to “have our words as fragrant as the flowers of the field.” Can we truly agree with the statement that our words have the soothing effect of gazing at a field of lovely flowers? Perhaps you can remember a time when you were able to encourage someone or lift someone up with your words. What a blessing if we can have that effect with all our words!
I have precious memories of Korea—seeing beautiful sights, taking pride in how well developed the infrastructure of the country and how efficient and industrious Koreans are, eating delicious and abundant food. A beautiful memento of Korea will be the sight of the lovely cherry blossoms and the wonderful thought that God desires my soul to be as beautiful as the cherry blossom. And may God grant that my words be as fragrant as the flowers of the field.