One spring day, when the sun was having trouble shining, a little boy named Jay decided that he would make his mother some flowers for Mothers Day. Maybe some red ones, maybe some yellow ones, maybe even a few pink ones, even some of every color of the rainbow!
Most people would tell you that little boys can't make real flowers; but Jay thought that there wasn't anything that he couldn't do! After all he was seven years old, and he knew that he was a big boy now, his Mama had told him so on his last birthday.
The first thing he decided was a vase. You had to have a nice big vase to put the flowers in. Jay went into his mother�s kitchen and looked in every cabinet, it took awhile, but he found the perfect one, right under the sink. A large green one, big enough for all of the colored flowers, he was going to make.
Now Jay wondered," how do you start making flowers?" He thought that maybe the best thing to do was take the vase to the garage, cause he sure wouldn't want Mama to see the surprise before it was ready! On his way, Jay stopped by his Mama's rose garden, he reached down and picked the biggest red rose in the garden, after all every good builder had a blueprint.
Once in the garage, Jay set the vase and rose on the long bench, that his father uses to work on, as he thought "where do I get the rest of my materials?" Color! He needed color for the flowers, so he flew into the house in search of his crayons. He knew that it wasn't going to be an easy job, because his room always looked like someone picked it up and turned it upside down! His Mama always told him to pick up his room, and he did pick it up when she asked, but it still looked like an upside down mess!
When Jay got to his room, he just stood by the door and scratched his head, where did he have his crayons last? Maybe under the bed, as he stepped over and around his toys and books, he looked for a spot clean enough for him to get on his hands and knees. But there wasn't a clean spot around his bed, so he just jumped on it and laid on his belly, hung over the side and took a look. Nope not there! Maybe in the toy box! Jay sailed off the bed and ran to the corner where his empty toy box sat. As he looked around the bottom of the box, he found two crayons, a black and a brown, not very pretty colors for flowers. Better look for some more. After digging and scratching through the mess on his floor, Jay came up with three more crayons, a blue, a yellow, and an orange one. How could he make his mother beautiful flowers with just these few colors?
Maybe Mama had something in the kitchen to make color with! Like a flash Jay went to work looking in the cabinets again, this time he was looking for the stuff his Mama used to make cakes and Easter eggs pretty. He found it with all of her spices and things, food coloring!
Making his way back to the garage, he was thinking what else he would need. This was hard, because making flowers is not an easy thing to do.
Looking at the red rose that he had picked from his Mama's garden, Jay gave his problem a lot of thought. He decided that he would need some glue, some cloth, and sticks for the stems of the flowers.
The sticks were easy to find, he just went out into the yard and found a bunch of sticks under the old oak tree, the glue came from his fathers workshop, and the cloth from his mothers sewing room. Now he was ready to do the serious job of making flowers!
Back in his fathers workshop, Jay was ready to get busy, and get busy he did, for two hours he cut, glued and colored. Boy was he ever tired! But he just wasn't satisfied with his results. Never had he seen such a mess, his father was not going to be happy with him, and he was sure that Mama would never like the bunch of colored rags and sticks. Why was it so hard to make a flower? It looked so simple when he had begun, but as he looked on his mess, Jay burst into tears. He just couldn't think of a way to do it better, and Mothers Day was tomorrow.
As he cried, Jay didn't hear his mother enter the garage. As she looked over the mess, and at the homemade flowers in her best green vase, Mama guessed that her son had been trying to make her a surprise. Moving over to Jay, she put her arms around him and asked, "Why are you so upset son?" Looking into his Mama's face, Jay burst into fresh tears, and buried his face into her shoulder. It took several minutes before the storm of tears slowed enough for him to talk, "Oh Mama, I didn't mean to make such a big mess, all I wanted to do was make you some real flowers, like the ones in your garden," sobbed Jay, "It all seemed so easy, but I couldn't get it right, these just don't look like real flowers."
His Mama just held him, and as he got quiet, she explained, "Dear, no human can make a flower, these are gifts from God and all man can do is hope to make a copy of such beauty. Don't feel like you have failed at your task, for you have picked an impossible one. We can only enjoy the beauty that God has given us, like flowers, trees, a sunset, or even a new born baby, but man can not equal such gifts, so how can we expect a small boy to be up to the job?"
Jay pulled away form his Mama's embrace and tried to explain "But I love you so much Mama, and I wanted to make you something special for Mothers Day!" She smiled at he small son, "Jay you make all my days special, by just being Jay.�
Judy Kiser
2/18/86 �
Most people would tell you that little boys can't make real flowers; but Jay thought that there wasn't anything that he couldn't do! After all he was seven years old, and he knew that he was a big boy now, his Mama had told him so on his last birthday.
The first thing he decided was a vase. You had to have a nice big vase to put the flowers in. Jay went into his mother�s kitchen and looked in every cabinet, it took awhile, but he found the perfect one, right under the sink. A large green one, big enough for all of the colored flowers, he was going to make.
Now Jay wondered," how do you start making flowers?" He thought that maybe the best thing to do was take the vase to the garage, cause he sure wouldn't want Mama to see the surprise before it was ready! On his way, Jay stopped by his Mama's rose garden, he reached down and picked the biggest red rose in the garden, after all every good builder had a blueprint.
Once in the garage, Jay set the vase and rose on the long bench, that his father uses to work on, as he thought "where do I get the rest of my materials?" Color! He needed color for the flowers, so he flew into the house in search of his crayons. He knew that it wasn't going to be an easy job, because his room always looked like someone picked it up and turned it upside down! His Mama always told him to pick up his room, and he did pick it up when she asked, but it still looked like an upside down mess!
When Jay got to his room, he just stood by the door and scratched his head, where did he have his crayons last? Maybe under the bed, as he stepped over and around his toys and books, he looked for a spot clean enough for him to get on his hands and knees. But there wasn't a clean spot around his bed, so he just jumped on it and laid on his belly, hung over the side and took a look. Nope not there! Maybe in the toy box! Jay sailed off the bed and ran to the corner where his empty toy box sat. As he looked around the bottom of the box, he found two crayons, a black and a brown, not very pretty colors for flowers. Better look for some more. After digging and scratching through the mess on his floor, Jay came up with three more crayons, a blue, a yellow, and an orange one. How could he make his mother beautiful flowers with just these few colors?
Maybe Mama had something in the kitchen to make color with! Like a flash Jay went to work looking in the cabinets again, this time he was looking for the stuff his Mama used to make cakes and Easter eggs pretty. He found it with all of her spices and things, food coloring!
Making his way back to the garage, he was thinking what else he would need. This was hard, because making flowers is not an easy thing to do.
Looking at the red rose that he had picked from his Mama's garden, Jay gave his problem a lot of thought. He decided that he would need some glue, some cloth, and sticks for the stems of the flowers.
The sticks were easy to find, he just went out into the yard and found a bunch of sticks under the old oak tree, the glue came from his fathers workshop, and the cloth from his mothers sewing room. Now he was ready to do the serious job of making flowers!
Back in his fathers workshop, Jay was ready to get busy, and get busy he did, for two hours he cut, glued and colored. Boy was he ever tired! But he just wasn't satisfied with his results. Never had he seen such a mess, his father was not going to be happy with him, and he was sure that Mama would never like the bunch of colored rags and sticks. Why was it so hard to make a flower? It looked so simple when he had begun, but as he looked on his mess, Jay burst into tears. He just couldn't think of a way to do it better, and Mothers Day was tomorrow.
As he cried, Jay didn't hear his mother enter the garage. As she looked over the mess, and at the homemade flowers in her best green vase, Mama guessed that her son had been trying to make her a surprise. Moving over to Jay, she put her arms around him and asked, "Why are you so upset son?" Looking into his Mama's face, Jay burst into fresh tears, and buried his face into her shoulder. It took several minutes before the storm of tears slowed enough for him to talk, "Oh Mama, I didn't mean to make such a big mess, all I wanted to do was make you some real flowers, like the ones in your garden," sobbed Jay, "It all seemed so easy, but I couldn't get it right, these just don't look like real flowers."
His Mama just held him, and as he got quiet, she explained, "Dear, no human can make a flower, these are gifts from God and all man can do is hope to make a copy of such beauty. Don't feel like you have failed at your task, for you have picked an impossible one. We can only enjoy the beauty that God has given us, like flowers, trees, a sunset, or even a new born baby, but man can not equal such gifts, so how can we expect a small boy to be up to the job?"
Jay pulled away form his Mama's embrace and tried to explain "But I love you so much Mama, and I wanted to make you something special for Mothers Day!" She smiled at he small son, "Jay you make all my days special, by just being Jay.�
Judy Kiser 2/18/86 �