The Story of Heather

Here is the most beautiful story about Heather. Thanks for sharing Traci.

When God first made the world, He looked at the bare and barren hillsides and thought how nice it would be to cover them with some kind of beautiful tree or flower. So he turned to the Giant Oak, the biggest and strongest of all of the trees he had made, and asked him if he would be willing to go up to the bare hills to help make them look more attractive. But the oak explained that he needed a good depth of soil in order to grow and that the hillsides would be far too rocky for him to take root.
So God left the oak tree and turned to the honeysuckle with its lovely yellow flower and beautiful sweet fragrance. He asked the honeysuckle if she would care to grow on the hillsides and spread her beauty and fragrance amongst the barren slopes. But the honeysuckle explained that she needed a wall or a fence or even another plant to grow against, and for that reason, it would be quite impossible for her to grow in the hills.
So God then turned to one of the sweetest and most beautiful of all the flowers - the rose. God asked the rose if she would care to grace the rugged highlands with her splendour. But the rose explained that the wind and the rain and the cold on the hills would destroy her, and so she would not be able to grow on the hills.Disappointed with the oak, the honeysuckle and the rose, God turned away. At length, he came across a small, low lying, green shrub with a flower of tiny petals -some purple and some white. It was a heather.
God asked the heather the same question that he’d asked the others. "Will you go and grow upon the hillsides to make them more beautiful?"The heather thought about the poor soil, the wind and the rain - and was not very sure that she could do a good job. But turning to God she replied that if he wanted her to do it, she would certainly give it a try.
God was very pleased.
He was so pleased in fact that he decided to give the heather some gifts as a reward for her willingness to do as he had asked. First, he gave her the strength of the oak tree - the bark of the heather is the strongest of any tree or shrub in the whole world. Next he gave her the fragrance of the honeysuckle - a fragrance which is frequently used to gently perfume soaps and potpourris. Finally he gave her the sweetness of the rose - so much so that heather is one of the bees favourite flowers. And to this day, heather is renowned especially for these three God given gifts.

I loved this story so very much, because in large part it describes our Heather. Heather is a strong girl with a willingness to work hard at what she wants. Right now she wants to walk so much. She is already three and her body is slowing becoming strong enough to do that. The sweetest thing happened this week. Rose was holding out her arms to Heather as she was walking and Heather fell on Rose and they both went down. We were all thinking there was going to be tears but Heather just screamed with laughter. I have yet to see a child who loves her body as much as Heather. She will wrestle with Cailean and Sean and all you can hear is her squeals of happiness. She was not planted in the best soil but she really is giving it her all, trying to grow in spite of her circumstances. With her challenges comes the such a fabulous fragrance and sweetness. She is such a spiritual child and I can see her being faithful to her Heavenly Father. She has a emotional radar that is so strong. She picks up on other people's emotions so fast and loves to comfort and hug the smaller babies then they cry. She is so happy and greets you with such a fabulous smile. I know she is going to make some family so happy because she loves us with such a fierce love and I know that she will love others the same way. She has been a such a great addition to our foster home. Looking at where she started and the fact that she could not even more her head when she was a year old and seeing how far she has come is evidence of just how tenacious Heather is. What a great example she has been!!! I wish for a family for her, nothing I know of yet, but I know it is going to be really hard for us to say good bye. She so deserves the love of a forever family. What an honor it has been for me to be her mom for a while and to love and cuddle her. She has give so much more back that what she ever received.

Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda