“Puya Raimondii” is the botanical name of a flowering plant that has the look of a cactus.  Also called “Queen of the Andes”, it can create over 30,000 flowers when in full bloom.  What makes the plant so unusual is that it only blooms once every one hundred years.  Many flower enthusiasts would say seeing the blooms of this rare plant would be the pinnacle of their flower  experiences. Obviously, very few can make that claim.

This past week my son and daughter-in-law experienced their own version of the flowering “Queen of the Andes” when Lincoln James McFarland was born into this world and for a brief moment in time the blooms of his fragile beauty left those in his presence speechless. God had chosen to allow this child of His creation to be the rarest and briefest of blooms on earth.  We marveled at his perfect form, his gentle movements and mourned when the bloom of his life, like the softly falling petal of a rose, fell into the arms of his heavenly Father.

I don’t know why God would create a flower whose blooms most will never see and I don’t know why a precious life, born into a loving and Godly home, would be sent away so soon.  Justin and Lori only caught a glimpse of Lincoln’s beauty.  They expressed their love in a single moment in time that passed through their lives much like a soft wind moves a limb on a tree. There was much more love and life ready to share.  As it turned out, Lincoln James McFarland was not ready for this world but, his heavenly Father was ready for him. 

Somewhere a flower with a million blooms is waiting to be seen, touched and held for eternity.

We love you, Lincoln!
Your grandparents, Lisa and Steve