Shari's Flowers
A garden planted as a gift, grown into something we now give away.
"For me?"
Somebody asked me, "But why?"
I enjoy acts of kindness and the way flowers brighten people's lives.
A gift that kept multiplying
In 2025, I wanted to give my wife Shari the gift of flowers. So I planted flowers — lots of them. My wife loved it. But we had so many flowers, we started sharing them with friends. The more we cut, the more grew back.
So I started taking a bouquet to work and giving it away at the end of the day, with one simple goal: bringing a little joy into a perfect stranger's life. In 2026, I planted even more.
More flowers than we could ever keep to ourselves.
Why cutting flowers grows more grace
Somebody's pick-me-up
I often pray: God, let me give these to somebody today who might need a little pick-me-up or encouragement — somebody for whom these flowers will brighten their day.
So you received the flowers — is that an answer to prayer? I don't know. I'd like to think so.
Not even a sparrow forgotten
In a historical account of the life of Jesus, the writer Luke describes Jesus being invited to dine at the house of one of the religious elite, who in turn criticized him, looking to find fault. Meanwhile a crowd gathered, and Jesus spoke to them.
He warned them to be on guard against the so-called religious elite who were hypocrites, and told them it mattered far more how God viewed them. He said not even a sparrow was forgotten by God — that God knew details about them so small they didn't even bother to count, like the number of hairs on their head.
So I believe that God cares for you. He knows your name — and maybe the flowers are his way of letting you know this, his way to brighten your day today.
See it in bloom
Judgment and mercy, together
One of the things that brightens my life is the belief that God cared so much about me that he offered a path of reconciling with him. That path — often called the "good news," or the Gospel — is what separates the story in the Bible from every other religion in the world.
In that story is something no religion offers: an account of how God's judgment and God's mercy are perfectly brought together. Jesus offered to take on himself God's judgment for our imperfection — for the way we "miss the mark," which is a literal translation of the word "sin" in Hebrew. And by standing in our place, we have mercy and peace with God.
"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?"
Luke 12So I hope these flowers will brighten your day — you get to enjoy the beauty of creation. And maybe you'll come to know that God cares more about you than the flowers.
If you want to learn more about God, pray that he will show you who he is. While I'm not one who prays a whole lot, that is a prayer I believe is answered.
Enjoy the gift of
Shari's Flowers
Grown to give away, one bouquet at a time.
— Tom & Shari Roberts