A white rose with a red tip…
A white rose with a red tip symbolizes “Don’t waste the wait.” Of course, if you were to Google this, you would not find that, but that’s my interpretation.
Yesterday was my daddy’s birthday, February 17th. For ten years, he’s had a beautiful rose delivered to my doorstep. It’s simply the sweetest gesture because it’s his special day, yet he thinks of me. But while this selfless act is the sweetest, the most encouraging aspect of this decade-long tradition is this: the flower is always a different color that he strategically chooses to help encourage me through the struggles of infertility.
This year, it is a white rose with a red tip.
White symbolizes triumph, victory, majesty, and the glory of God.
Red is symbolic of life, love, and passion.
My daddy chose these colors because of his prayer for me as I continue to wait for my very own miracle, and it is this —
“May God continue to bless you and give you the courage and strength to point others to the way of victory and triumph through Jesus. May He also continue to give you the passion and boldness to speak life and love into the lives of those seeking answers and miracles.”
You see, my daddy didn’t say it, but in essence, he said, “Punkin’ Head, don’t waste the wait.”
Sure, I can wait in quiet hope from my small town in Southern Illinois, keeping my hopes and dreams to myself with the occasional encounter to encourage someone else, but the statistics are clear: 1 in 6 struggle to conceive.
The harvest is plenty, and God calls laborers to keep pressing on, spurring others, and showing the way as they spread the gospel of Jesus’ way-making, miracle-working, and constant-loving capabilities to the infertility community.
The enemy’s voice is loud in the ears of couples desiring to have and raise children, telling them they’re not worthy, and God is distant, angry, and withholding. The constant lies, delivered day in and day out through the continuous voice of disappointment, cause them to let go of hope in the miraculous or not follow the One True Living God who can help.
But there is a better voice.
A voice that speaks peace to the worried ones.
Hope to the despaired ones.
And power to the weary and weak ones with troubling diagnoses.
God is not distant; He is near.
God is not mad; He is loving and slow to anger.
As I continue to wait for my miracle of ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes, the days will not be wasted. I’ll continue to plow the fields with courage and passion, sowing seeds of hope with boldness and love that I know, in faith, will produce a victorious harvest of new lives and changed couples by His power.
And may He always get the glory.
For not my power or might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Zep. 4:6)
Sweet friend, we all have a calling to share the gospel with our circle of influence. It might not be through a large online ministry or support group that meets in your home, but it could be through a Facebook post or sending an encouraging letter to someone you know struggling. Together, we can plow those fields and sow those seeds. Won’t He send the rain!
Thanks, Daddy, for another incredible rose.
-Elisha, founder of Waiting for Baby Bird
