Blooms and Thorns

          This thorn tree is down in the bottom below our house.  Although we've lived here for about five years and go down there on a regular basis, I'd never even noticed it until about a month ago when the dangerously sharp thorns caught my eye.  Ever since then, I've marveled at those thorns each time I've passed by the tree... yet somehow I'd overlooked the buds.... But today when we went down there, there was no way to overlook the gorgeous bursting white blooms!
          If you think about it, life is a lot like this thorn tree. It's so easy to get caught up in life's problems and only focus on the thorns.  But if we look at it in a different way, the thorns have their own unique beauty.... kind of like stormy days... it would be hard to appreciate the sunshine if we didn't have the rain... if it weren't for my bad days/ faults/ mistakes/ disappointments, I wouldn't and couldn't truly appreciate the good.