Pink Saturday- A Knock Out Of A Rose!

Today's Pink Saturday is extra special. Beverly our lovely host from How Sweet The Sound is teaming up with Kellee at the Katillac Shack to celebrate a very special woman, Colette. Colette is battling breast cancer and times have not been kind to her! With Kellee's help her room and hospital bed were transformed into a miracle place of healing! Now beautiful and uplifting her once dreary bedroom is a place of peace, love and HEALING! Just what Colette needs!!!!! Kellee has posted the most wonderful video about Colette. It is a must see!

I am celebrating with so many others today and participating in  Colette's Miracle Party Makover by posting an uplifting story.  I wrote this post not too long after I first started blogging. I thougt it was perfect for the occasion.

 Please vist Beverly and Kellee. By leaving a comment on either post a dollar will be donated to the Miracle Makeover! Please help.

A Knock Out Of A Rose

Pretty and pink and a real crowd pleaser, the Knock Out Rose is a happy, self confident and generous rose. Happily blooming in my garden, these beauties could tell us a thing or two about living successfully!

Roses are natural attention -grabbers, but the Knock Out Rose is a standout among stars! Stars can be so hight maintenance… but not this dazzler!

Here are 7 little lessons I have learned from observing the amiable Knock Out Rose:

1. The Knock Out rose took 20 years to develop. It was developed by the hard work of William Radler. Years and  years of loving labor went into creating this fabulous rose.
Lesson: We don’t turn into our best self overnight or by ourselves! We need time to develop. Trial and error, mistakes, frustrations, and a good deal of help along the way go into all success. God’s hand in our lives molding us and holding us!

2. The Knock Out Rose is disease resistant. To develop this quality, the creator of the rose exposed it to overhead water, that causes black spot in most roses. He also exposed it to other diseased roses. A sure death sentence for the common rose. William wanted to develop a rose that could withstand these perils.
Lesson: Exposure to adversity can have a positive effect. While most roses wilted, our beauty survived. Don’t let the bad in life overtake you. Develop resistance and resilience to it. Overcome it ! Prayer and trust work great here!

3. The Knock Out Rose is heat tolerant. Most roses were developed and originally grown in perfect conditions. So it is not surprising they do not do well in extreme heat. They tend to languish.
Not our tough little rose! It keeps on blooming even in a heat wave.
Lesson: When the heat is on, keep on doing what you know is right- don’t give up. Heatwaves don’t last forever.

4. Our rose is not only disease resistant, but pest resistant too. The Knock Out Rose resists fungi, leaf hoppers and rose midge.
Lesson: There will ALWAYS be pests in our lives. Let’s just acknowledge that and move on. Don’t let others steal our joy for life. We need to steel ourselves against the fungi, leaf hoppers and the midges of the world. Be like our little rose, unaffected even though these pesky intruders are all around. Be kind, but don’t give them a host!

5. Long periods of rain, cold , heat (see above), poor soil conditions and sun are no problem for this special rose. It can not only survive adverse conditions, it can thrive.
Lesson: Be adaptable. Change will come and so will all manner of adversity. Embrace change and stand up to adversity. Try to find the best in every situation and “bloom where you are planted”.

6. The Knock Out Rose does not need to be deadheaded. It is self-cleaning. They continue to bloom, so they just push dead blooms out of the way.
Lesson: We should always be decluttering or lives. Throwing off what shackles us, pushing aside things of no importance so we can continue to grow and learn and live lives in full bloom. Don’t hold on to things that are dead in the past that stop us from living productive lives in the present. Edit, edit, edit your life! Make room for the most important.

7. Knock Out Roses make more of an impact when grouped together. These showy shrubs like to be in each other’s company.
Lesson: Get involved. No man, or rose, is an island! We were made for relationship, and being relational is a sign of good mental health. Find someone to support and mentor. Find someone to support and mentor you. Lend your time and talents to something worthwhile. Take a lesson from our rose… be a joiner. It’s more fun!

Now, the Knock Out Rose is not perfect. It doesn't have much of a smell, does not have long stable stems, and it comes in limited colors.

I guess there is another lesson: No one is perfect! Don't be too hard on yourself!

For Colette- I pray for your total healing! May our Great God and Giver of Life be glorified through you! I'll keep praying for you! Thank you for touching my life with yours!
Yvonne